CWACOM after the Food Incident
by RainingSunshineEverywhere
Summary: After the Great Food Incident, Flint Lockwood is lonely when his girlfriend; Sam Sparks has gone back to New York. One day he discovers that the FLDSMDFR is ok and goes out to find it. Trouble is at every corner and Flint, Sam and Brent better watch out.
1. Chapter 1: FLDSMDFR is back

It had been exactly two days since the whole food catastrophe. There had been a giant clean up, and after things went the other way.

Sam Sparks left back for New York, to continue with her job as a reporter. Manny of course left with her and now Flint Lockwood was lonely. The only friend he had was Brent; who had become much friendlier than before. But he wasn't too much a friend. At times he was still a little mean.

But who cared.

Flint spent most of his time in his lab. His loneliness had gotten to his mind, and he just couldn't think of anything new to invent. But then why should he invent anything now, when the FLDSMDFR had turned out to being a disaster along with his previous inventions?

The only thing he wanted to do now was see Sam. She had left so quickly, that they didn't get a chance to sit down and talk. The last time he had a private conversation with her was in the Jell-O dome.

But that had been ages ago.

Right?

Before Flint could go anywhere, his computer screen flashed red. Confused, he turned to it and watched the letters on the screen: ALERT!

Quickly, the inventor slide into his swivel chair and snatched the mouse. As he clicked the red screen, more words appeared on the screen. For a second he couldn't understand whether it was it true. Maybe it was a glitch. But the words were clear as ever. Right there in front of him.

The words "FLDSMDFR Loading…" were blinking right at Flint's alarmed face.


	2. Chapter 2: the FLDSMDFR and visitor

At first Flint had no idea what to do. In fact, he couldn't understand what he was seeing. Hadn't the FLDSMDFR been destroyed by the exploding meatball AND sprayed by his awesome spray-on-shoes?

Flint glanced over at Steve, his monkey, who was chewing a gummy bear. A rather large one. Probably leftover from the food disaster. Curiosity spread inside Flint. He watched the screen, as the words 'loading' went away and a map appeared. A blinking orange dot was on the map. Squinting, Flint saw that the map was a map of ChewandSwallow and the ocean around it. The dot was near the docks.

His eyes widened as Flint ran out of his lab and down the tunnel with Steve at his heels. They ran across the yard and he waved a good morning to his dad; who watched Flint with a raised eyebrow.

"Gotta go, dad!" Flint shouted over his shoulder. He ran down the street and onto Main Street, where people gathered to watch the news on the TVs in the store window. Flint stopped there, to see Sam Sparks telling the weather for the New Yorkers. She had taken out her Jell-O scrunchie and now wore it on her wrist. Her glasses were gone too. She looked like the Sam Flint first met.

The only thing that was different about the weathergirl was her mood. She sounded happy and acted happy, but Flint could tell by her eyes, that she was upset. He wanted to reach out and hug her, comfort her, be with her.

Sighing, he turned away and trooped off to the docks with Steve sitting on his shoulder. The day was cloudy and reminded him of the day when he had first met Sam. How she had kicked him in the face. He smiled weakly at that and chuckled.

At the docks he climbed down the familiar ladder and sat on the third last step. Now his eyes trained on the water below. There was nothing in front of him. He spun around and looked behind him; under the dock.

And there it was. The FLDSMDFR all cracked, smudged in food and covered in ash or something. The screen on it was cracked completely and two of the legs were missing out of the four. Grinning, Flint turned around on the ladder so that he was facing the direction _under _the dock. Then he leaned over and holding on to the ladder grabbed the FLDSMDFR by its antenna. It was much heavier than he thought.

Grunting, he heaved it onto the dock and climbed up the ladder. Now all he had to do was carry it to his lab and examine it. On his shoulder, Steve whimpered at the sight of the old invention. Ignoring Steve's protests, Flint lifted the invention and walked down the dock and back down Main Street. Some people watched him as he went.

"Is that one gonna destroy anything, Lockwood?" someone called out and a bunch of people laughed.

"No. It's my old one." Flint snapped and hurried on back to his lab. The people gasped and stepped back as they eyed the FLDSMDFR.

In his lab, Flint placed the invention on his tabletop and pulled up his chair. Carefully he examined it. The chow-fluffer (the part that spat out the food) was all covered in his spray-on-shoes substance. Most of it was burnt.

He put on his caution gloves and slowly began to take it apart. It was tricky because of something that seemed to be holding the parts together like glue. It was probably marshmallow.

Before he could do anymore, he heard his dad calling him. Running over to his window and pushing it open, he saw his dad standing down below.

"You have a visitor!" his dad called out.

"Coming!" Flint shouted back and ran out of his lab and down the tunnel once again. His dad was already going back into the house. Where and who was the visitor? He around the yard and then went around to the front of the house. At first he couldn't see anyone.

Then he saw her.


	3. Chapter 3: JellO and the FLDSMDFR

At first Flint saw no one, but when he saw Sam Sparks running toward him, he was seriously VERY confused. Wasn't she on TV a few minutes ago? She ran over to him and threw her arms around him. He just stood there dazed, until he hugged her back.

To Flint, it was probably the weirdest day of his life (well except when the meatball exploded and he was supposed to die). But today he had found his invention and now Sam was here. Questions filled his mind and he just couldn't hold them in.

"What are you doing here?" he asked after he let her go.

"It's a long story. To make it short, my boss let go me for a while because he saw how miserable I was. I needed the break. So I was flown over her on the WNN helicopter." She blew out a huge sigh. She glanced over at Flint who was looking down on his shoes.

"You did seem distracted." Flint replied looking up at her.

"Well, telling the weather just isn't as fun. It was more fun when there was food raining from the sky. Not saying that it should happen again." She trailed off.

Flint watched her and went stiff. Now thinking about it… why in the world did he bring the FLDSMDFR to his lab?

"You wanna go for a walk?" Sam then brought him out of his thoughts.

"Uh… yeah… SURE!" he perked up and followed her. She beamed and they walked down the street. When they got to the Main Street, Flint tried not to make eye contact with anyone. He didn't want any comments about the FLDSMDFR while Sam was here.

They went the opposite direction (away from the docks) and to the direction of the forest. Memories danced around them as they both remembered the Jell-O Dome. When they reached the spot where it stood previously, Sam gasped. Flint just grinned.

The Jell-O Dome was there. Untouched and the same shape as it was left. It was unbelievable. Slowly, they made their way down the hill and Flint ran over to it. He poked it and it wobbled.

"Still ok. I'm surprised though." Flint laughed. Sam appeared beside him. Flint bowed comically at her and extended his hand. She smiled and curtsied. Stepping inside the Jell-O was like a memory playing over again.

There was the piano, the statues, and the pool. Sam and Flint stood there for a few moments, until Sam gave Flint a sly side-glance. He returned hers and suddenly they both sprang off the ground.

To Sam this was probably the best place to be. Never did she let herself off the hook so much. This was where she told Flint her secret and ALMOST kissed him. As she plunged into the pool with a shriek, Flint jumped in after her.

The day was coming to an abrupt end. The sun was setting with its golden rays swallowed by the dark night sky. Stars twinkled out and set the sky up with the moon. Streetlamps flickered down the streets, but outside the Jell-O Dome there were dozens of fireflies dancing about.

For the whole day, Flint had kept his mind off the FLDSMDFR waiting on his tabletop. What if Sam wanted to come inside his lab? He imagined her reaction and winced. It wouldn't be a good one. They walked down Main Street, holding hands and Flint spotted a couple of people wandering here and there.

"Hey Lockwood! Whatcha gonna do with the invention of yours? I'd leave it where you found it!" someone hollered out. Holding his breath, Flint hurried on and pulled Sam behind him.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked and rose on of her eyebrows, when they veered onto his street.

"Nothing…nothing at all." Flint stammered.

"Can I stay with you tonight? Your town has a motel, but I don't have money with me." Sam asked sweetly. Flint nodded nervously.

They went around the house, said hello to Flint's father and started toward Flint's lab. Taking deep breaths, Flint was really afraid. Maybe Sam wouldn't mind seeing it. Maybe he could cover it with something before.

Slowly, they walked down the pink tunnel and Flint gulped. Carefully, he moved the curtain over and his eyes fell on the table that the FLDSMDFR sat on. It was covered with a white cloth. Steve was sitting on top of it, still chewing his gummy bear. A HUGE sigh of relief escaped Flint and he led Sam past it. She just glanced at it and followed him.

"You can sleep on the bed. I'll just sleep on the floor." He replied. Turning around to him, she nodded, came over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He blushed deep red and went to find his sleeping bag so he could sleep on the floor.

By the time he came back, Sam was lying on his bed and her shoes on the floor next to his bedpost. Her clothes were still on and she was falling asleep.

"G'night Flint." She murmured and closed her tired eyes. Smiling, Flint came over and draped the blanket over her and kissed her on the forehead. Then he crawled into his sleeping bag and sleep washed over him…

Beeps awoke Flint in the middle of the night. Jumping up he ran over to his small lamp and flicked it on. Sam was still asleep. It was the FLDSMDFR that was beeping uncontrollably. He ran over to it and snatched the white cloth off it. Then took the nearest thing near him and whacked the machine. It instantly shut up. Then he pulled up his chair and sat at the table. There was no point to sleep now. Not when the FLDSMDFR was acting strange. Slowly, he pulled out his screwdriver and began to undo all the screws.

When he heard Sam mumble something in her sleep, he quickly shut the lamp off and turned on his flashlight, which hung over the table from a loose string.

When all four sides of the FLDSMDFR came off, he pulled the inside apart. Everything was covered in pieces of the meatball or his spray- on shoes.

Quietly, he slapped his gloves on and removed the meatball pieces. Then he took a knife and tried to pry the spray-on shoe substance. He thought it might have burned. But the knife did nothing. The substance was as hard to peel away as ever.

Working fast, he removed the pieces covered in the substance and cleaned out the inside. For the rest of the night, Flint cleaned up his old invention. All he couldn't understand was how did it survive the explosion of the meatballs. What about the great distance from the ground it fell from? And how it had landed in water? He needed to find out. But he couldn't tell Sam.


	4. Chapter 4: A Mystery with the FLDSMDFR

The next morning, the sun streamed in through Flint Lockwood's lab window. It poured all over and finally landed on Sam Sparks; who was snoring quietly. Groaning, she got up in the bed and rubbed her eyes.

Sighing loudly, she threw her legs over the side of her bed and yawned. She stumbled out of bed and realized that Flint's sleeping bag was empty.

Confused, she walked around the lab and finally came to a small table. There was that weird thing covered by the white cloth. And there was Flint sitting in the chair, with his head rested on the table and a screwdriver slipping out of hands. He was still asleep. Then the screwdriver fell out of his hand and landed on the floor with a loud clatter. That woke Flint and he fell out of his chair.

Rubbing his head, he looked around and saw Sam hovering over him.

"Morning Sam." He grinned and got up.

"Morning Flint." She nodded and eyed the lump under the white cloth. The suspense was killing her. What was under there?

"Coffee?" Flint asked sweetly and came back with steaming mugs with coffee.

"Thanks," she took the mug and took a small sip, "Um, I think I'll leave today. I feel much better." She walked over to Flint's giant window and looked out of it. The mug was in her hands and warmed her up as she took another sip. She loved mornings. The warmness of the sun and the feeling of a new day about begin. Right now she didn't feel like looking at Flint. He would be hurt. Not as hurt as she was. Even if she said she was okay, her heart ached at the thought of the streets of ChewandSwallow. Compare them to the streets of New York.

"Okay." Flint nodded slowly and she turned around. She was starting to choke up. Slowly, she came over to him and hugged him tight. When she let go, she used his phone to ask her boss for a boat to come by and pick her up.

"I'll escort you to the docks." He replied.

She nodded and finished the last of her coffee. Carefully, she set the mug on his table and they exited the lab…

The docks were quiet, except for the silent fishermen who had blended in with the gray scene. They stood at the edge of the dock and Flint glanced up the sky. The sun was bright a minute ago, but now it was moving in behind the clouds.

He imagined the clouds bursting with color. When he and Sam stood on the dock and there were cheeseburgers raining from the sky. That scene made him peer closer at the sky. He smiled at the image in his head, but frowned at the next slideshow of images. What had been the outcome of his food.

The moment he spotted a boat in the distance steering its way to the docks, his smile vanished. Sam was frowning too. She now looked hesitant and somewhat worried.

The boat docked itself and a man came out on deck.

"To New York City!" the man hollered. Sam glanced at Flint and hugged him again. She kissed him on the forehead and held his hand, before it slipped out and he watched her board the boat silently.

Flint waved once to her, and then turned away. Once again he was lonely. His feet led him back to his lab, where he was greeted by a very excited Steve.

"Gummy Bear!" Steve cried out and followed Flint to the table that had the FLDSMDFR on it. He ripped the white cloth off the machine and sat into his chair.

"Not now Steve." Flint told the impatient monkey. He sat there hunched over with his face upset, but yet concerned. Why did the thing start beeping in the middle of the night? He took one of the unscrewed sides in his hands and turned it over in his hands. It looked the same as he had built it, but there was something… different about it.

"I don't get it Steve!" Flint laid the piece back down and slumped back in his chair. He usually was good at solving problems. Especially ones about his inventions. For example, his Remote Controlled TV was a simple problem: the signals sent out to the TV weren't strong enough, which was why it couldn't obey him.

"Steve, help me out here. What is wrong with it?" Flint asked his monkey who was looking under his bed for a Gummy Bear.

"No." Steve shrugged and continued to look.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Flint cried out and groaned.

"Well, something or someone got it bugged after it came out of the meatball and before it hit the water. Maybe someone caught it when everyone was standing on the PB & J sandwich boats when the meatball exploded." Flint thought harder. The gears in his head turned faster.

"That's it!" He shouted out. Steve peeked out from under the bed and looked at Flint as if he was insane. Steve knew that something ALWAYS happened when Flint said those words. Like on that late night when Flint woke up and yelled out those words. He jumped out of bed and sketched the FLDSMDFR on a post-it. It was the same with his previous inventions. He'd get an idea in the middle of the night, say those exact words and go write/his idea down.

"The FLDSMDFR is bugged! It must be!" Flint cried out in triumph and got his pliers. Now his eyes searched the FLDSMDFR pieces for a microchip of some sort.

"It must be here somewhere." Flint muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

Flint got up, tripped over his chair and finally reached the phone.

"Hello?" he asked as he picked up.

"Flint!" Sam replied cheerfully.

"You are at work? But it's only been like fifteen minutes!" Flint gasped.

"No, silly. I'm still on the boat." Sam chuckled.

"Oh." Flint trailed off and watched the FLDSMDFR from where he stood. He knew there was something wrong with it. He just knew it.

"So what are you doing now?" Sam asked.

"Just… uh… cleaning up the lab." Flint stammered and winced at the silence at the other side.

"Ok, Flint. I gotta go. Love you." She finally spoke.

"Love you too." Flint sighed and hung up. Sam still seemed troubled. Maybe he should seriously tell her. It would be for the better. He couldn't keep it inside forever.

As he went to work back on his FLDSMDFR, he didn't hear what was under his lab at the moment. Or who. There was a person in a dark blue trench coat standing there. The collar of the coat was turned upward, so the face couldn't be seen. The pants were dark blue too and the person was smoking a cigarette. A dark blue hat was pulled over his eyes and all you could see were the rings of smoke coming out of him.

"You know nothing yet, Lockwood." The person spat his cigarette on the ground and flattened it with the sole of his shoe. Then the person left with a wicked smirk on their smug face.


	5. Chapter 5: Stolen

The sunlight seeped into the cold room. It brought little warmth, but enough to keep the people in the room from shivering. The room itself was small and only fit a small table and a chair. A man stood leaning against the wall and the other sat in the chair. The man leaning against the wall stood in a dark blue trench coat. The other man (at the table) was twiddling with his thumbs. He was nervous.

"I want the machine." The man against the wall broke the long silence. The man at the table gulped.

"I need it. I almost became bankrupt last time!" the man at the wall replied in a louder voice. He came over and slammed his fist on the table. Then he leaned over to the other man.

"I need you to get it for me." The man told the other, and then he began to pace the room.

"But, I c-can't." the man at the table stammered.

"And why is that?" the man pacing spun around and glared at the other man.

"Because…because…we just can't. The inventor is too smart to outsmart. The police might come and we'll be arrested!" the man at the table cried out.

An unpleasant frown was brought to the man in the dark blue coat. He was silent for a moment and then pulled out a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at the other man. A gasp came from the other.

"You WILL get the machine. You'll bring it to me and I'll deal with it. I already managed to tweak with it when it was found in the water." The man with the blue trench coat snarled and came closer until the gun was pressed to the other man's forehead.

"Understand?" the man in the dark blue coat growled.

"Y-yes." The other man trembled with total fear. Nodding the other man pocketed the gun and ushered the other man outside. After he told him not to return until he got the machine. Or the trigger will be pulled.

The afternoon was going by slow. Flint Lockwood sat in the Laundromat reading the newspaper, while his lab coat spun in the washer. Every few minutes, he'd look up and look around. Any minute now the washer was to stop and he was to throw the lab coat into the dryer. He didn't want anyone to do it for him. Someone might steal his lab coat. In all he really didn't like the Laundromat, but the washer and dryer at home had stopped working—for good. His father had told him to come here.

"Mr. Lockwood! Your clothes are all washed!" a lady called out from behind the counter and Flint hopped up to throw his lab coat into the dryer for a few minutes. As he did, he saw a few rain clouds form outside the window. Once again he had forgotten his umbrella…

After Flint had gotten his lab coat all dried, he stepped outside and looked up. The rain clouds hadn't poured yet. Quickly, he hurried home. He was worried that he had left the FLDSMDFR alone. But then Steve was there. The monkey would take good care of it for him.

He hoped.

As he ran down his street, and came to his house, his stomach was flipping. For some strange reason he had the feeling that something was to happen. The same feeling had come to him when he had seen the Spaghetti Twister in the distance on the re-opening of the town. Or when he had seen the giant meatball. It was feeling of fear. He entered his yard and approached his lab. But he saw something on the floor. It was a flattened cigarette. Confused, Flint wondered if his dad smoked. It wasn't possible. He, himself, didn't smoke either.

_Maybe the wind carried it over here. _Flint thought. _But the wind is blowing the opposite direction_. Flint thought again and shrugging went into his lab. Why would anyone come here anyway? He knew everyone in ChewandSwallow. No one would come here. He didn't even know anyone who smoked!

"Hey, Steve!" Flint called to his monkey who was lying on his computer keyboard.

"Steve!" Steve hopped up and followed Flint around the lab toward the table with the FLDSMDFR. This time, Flint hadn't covered the machine because there was really no one to see it. There was only him and Steve.

"Do I grab the machine and him?" the man asked the man in the dark blue trench coat.

"I just want the machine! Do whatever you want to the guy! Now GO!" the man in the blue trench coat yelled and the pushed the other man out the door.

It was getting cloudy as the man walked out onto the street. That's when he saw the inventor dash out of the Laundromat. A look of worry flashed on the inventor's face as he hurried home.

_Why do I always have to do his dirty work? Can't he go and get the machine himself? What's so hard about that? Nothing! Why should I care if he wants to be a millionaire? Maybe I want to be a millionaire! Maybe I should just take a ship to New York and start a new life!_ The man thought to himself. But he shook the thought out of his head. It all sounded easy, but when he actually did it, he'd be running back.

It was either get the damn machine or run away. It was now or never.

Flint stared at the FLDSMDFR on his table. What was he supposed to do with it NOW? His fingers hovered over the power button. Should he? No. Yes? NO! He couldn't. What if the thing exploded, or flew out his window? Closing his eyes, he breathed in. He will press the button. But first he had to plug it in, hook it to the computer, and pour in water.

"Steve, do you think I'm going insane?" Flint asked his monkey.

"STEVE!" Steve cried out and ran to the other side of the room.

"I'll take that as a yes." Flint rolled his eyes and went to find the wire that he connected to the computer. Steve followed him. They connected the FLDSMDFR to the computer and plugged it in.

Fear was rippling inside Flint. Somewhere inside him was a voice telling him to turn it on. The other was screaming at him to banish it. The voice reminded him of Sam. She would hate him and ask him why the hell he had turned it on. What about other people? They'll never forgive him. Especially not the citizens of ChewandSwallow.

"Let's wait till tomorrow, Steve. I don't have the guts to turn it on today." Flint yawned and fell onto his bed. Even if it was late afternoon, the inventor was tired out. All the running around had knocked him out and he was asleep in seconds.

"Gummy Bears?" Steve asked and sat down on the floor next to the bed. When Flint didn't answer the monkey crawled up on the bed and curled up at Flint's feet.

The monkey fell asleep too and all was heard from the both of them was shallow breathing and soft snoring.

Outside the lab, the man who was told to take the FLDSMDFR was thinking of a way to get into the lab. There was no way in. The man wondered how the inventor got in. All he saw was a tunnel thing leading into the lab and a giant green crate… wait was that a portable toilet?

Blinking in confusion, the man opened the door and walked in. Instantly the thing shot up like a rocket and the man screamed. It came to a stop and the door opened.

Freaked out, the man got out and found a door in front of him. He pushed it open and found himself in a purple tunnel. He hoped the tunnel didn't have like a security system or anything. Glancing around nervously, the man walked down the tunnel. He came to a curtain and pulled it open.

Wow.

That was all the man could think when he saw the lab. It was breathtaking. The walls were high and the ceiling was dome-shaped. Millions of switches and buttons covered the walls. There were small screens all over and a giant computer with eight or so screen. And there was the machine on a table. Or at least he thought so. What if it was the wrong one?

The man walked over to the table and saw the inventor asleep in a bed nearby. Gulping, the man lifted the machine and realized how heavy it turned out to be. Wincing, he steadied it in his arms and left the lab. Mission Accomplished.


	6. Chapter 6: Gone and Away

All night Flint Lockwood had these weird nightmares. When he awoke in the morning he felt relieved. Sleepily, he reached for his lab coat on his chair. Then he got up and made his way over to his coffee machine. As he made his coffee, Steve woke up and was now pulling the bottom of his lab coat nervously.

"What is it, Steve?" Flint looked down at his monkey.

"Gone!" Steve widened his eyes and stopped tugging at Flint's lab coat.

"What's gone?" Flint followed his monkey over to the table where the FLDSMDFR sat. Except the FLDSMDFR wasn't there. The cloth was on the floor and the invention was gone. _Does the cigarette have anything to do with this?_ Flint thought. Afraid, he walked around the table. There was no evidence of who could have taken it. He couldn't even understand who would want it. At this point everyone hated the FLDSMDFR, just as much as he did. _Then why did I fix it up? Why did I take it home then? _He thought angrily to himself.

"We should tell someone. Dad? No. Earl? No. Sam? Defiantly not. There is really no one we could tell." Flint scratched the back of his head.

He sat down on his bed and thought. Usually he had ideas pouring into his mind by now, but there was nothing. He closed his eyes and thought harder. How will he find the FLDSMDFR? How? _Think! Think! _He was telling himself.

"THAT'S IT!" He jumped up and made Steve flinch; who was sitting atop the table.

"Steve! Remember how my computer was flashing that day and we knew that the FLDSMDFR was in the water? The tracking system, Steve! We can use the tracking system that I had built into the machine, when I first built it!" Flint grinned excitedly.

But all Steve did was cock his head like a confused puppy and watch Flint run to the computer.

Steve crawled over to the computer and climbed up onto Flint's swivel chair. Flint's fingers were flying over the keyboard at a great speed. All Steve could see was a blur on the keyboard. Then the screen flashed again, and a map appeared. Then came a moving orange dot.

"Someone is either driving away with it or walking away with it." Flint watched the screen. Suddenly the dot stopped and didn't move anymore. Flint zoomed out on the map and looked at the street names.

"That's New York City!" Flint gasped and got up in his chair and continued to watch the screen. The orange dot stayed put. But why was the FLDSMDFR in New York City? He had to know. Could Sam have taken it? _Are you stupid or something? She would NEVER do that!_ Flint gritted his teeth.

"Steve, I going off to New York to find it. You'll stay here. I'll tell dad to feed you." Flint told the monkey. Steve watched Flint exit the lab. He had understood every word. Scratching his head, Steve still didn't understand where Flint was going…

"DAD!" Flint called out as he entered the house.

"Here, skipper." His father came out of the kitchen.

"Dad, can you take care of Steve while I'm gone? I need to go to New York City for a few days." Flint told his dad quickly. His father raised his eyebrow and his eyes widened.

"New York City?" he exclaimed, but it sounded more like a question. Flint nodded. Sighing his dad said one word, "Sure." and left back into the kitchen. He didn't sound if he cared. He knew Flint constantly had crazy ideas, so he didn't even want to ask why was Flint going there.

Meanwhile, Flint hurried to the docks. The morning boat to the city left at 8 in the morning and was already 7:55. On the way there, he saw Brent walking to the docks too. They walked to the docks in silence and Flint wondered why Brent was going there too.

"Why are you going to New York?" Flint asked.

"'Cause you are. I'm bored," Brent sighed, "and the mayor is driving me crazy." He rolled his eyes and Flint narrowed his eyes at him. No offense, but he didn't really want anyone to come with him. Especially Brent. Why couldn't he stay here and mind his own business?

"Fine. I'll explain everything on the boat." Flint mumbled. If he said 'no', Brent would just ask questions and Flint would go insane. Brent smiled his superstar smile and at the same time the 8'oclock boat came to the docks. The boat was small; didn't look like it'll fit too many people, but it was a reasonable size.

xxx

"Do you have it?" the man in the dark blue trench coat snarled as he heard the other man enter the room. He turned and his eyes glowed. The machine was in the other man's arms. The other man slammed onto the table and heaved a sigh of relief. He reminded himself to never carry heavy things again. The machine had been too much!

"Ah! Now it's in my hands!" the man in the blue trench coat cackled and walked around the table to admire it. The other man watched the man in the dark blue coat and could almost see the dollar signs glowing in his eyes.

"Do I get paid for this?" the other man asked with uncertainty.

"I'll think about it." The man in the blue trench coat snapped and studied the FLDSMDFR. A look of puzzlement spread on his face.

"What's it called?" the man in the dark blue trench coat asked the other.

"How am I supposed to know?" the other man furrowed his eyebrows and sat on the floor. He wished he had chosen to run away. And for sure he knew he wouldn't get paid. It was obvious. Maybe he could run away now. He still had the chance. Slowly, he got up. But the man in the dark blue trench coat ordered him to sit back down. Fearfully, the man sat down.

"I have another job for you." The man in the blue trench coat turned around and looked at the man sitting on the floor.

"Find Lockwood and bring him here. He's probably out there to find his precious invention." The man in the dark blue trench coat grinned an evil smile and turned back to the FLDSMDFR.

Biting his lip, the man sitting on the floor got up and ran out the door. He had to warn Flint Lockwood. He didn't want the world to be covered in food again. He just couldn't get caught. If he did, the trigger will be pulled.

xxx

The streets of New York City were jammed packed with people on the sidewalk and taxis on the roads. Flint and Brent walked through the crowd and people turned to look at them. Not every day you saw two men in their early twenties walking down the street; one wearing a lab coat and the other a light blue track suit. But as they ran down the sidewalks, people made room for them.

"Where are we running to?" Brent huffed as he tried to catch up with Flint.

"You'll see!" Flint made a left turn and Brent followed, "NO!"

Flint stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and Brent braked beside him. A look of puzzlement crossed Brent's face and he glanced at Flint. A look of worry was on the inventor's face. He was glancing down at his phone.

"The FLDSMDFR's tracking system was knocked out. Whoever has it must have done so on purpose!" Flint now stared ahead into space.

"How do you know the system was knocked out?" Brent demanded.

"My computer is connected to my phone, so I had the map showing the FLDSMDFR, and where it is. The map disappeared and the program keeps on saying 'error'" Flint glanced at Brent.

They stood in the middle of the sidewalk not knowing where to go and what to do. The FLDSMDFR could be anywhere. Flint hated himself for not remembering the street address. Brent hated himself for not asking Flint for the address. They had to think of a plan, before food rained out of the sky.


	7. Chapter 7: Trouble

Flint and Brent stood on the sidewalk not knowing where to go or what to do. So Brent just kept on glancing at Flint to see if Flint sparked up an idea. Flint was glaring at his phone angrily. The rush of people going passed them, kept on increasing as each minute went by. The streets started to get louder as people drove off to work or off to their duties.

"I think we need to turn right at the turn of this sidewalk." Flint looked up and Brent raised an eyebrow.

"You think? Why can't you be sure?" he demanded. Flint just glared at him, and Brent looked away with a roll of his eyes.

Since kindergarten they had been enemies, and all the way through college. Now Brent was tagging along with Flint as if they had been friends forever. Flint just didn't get it. But for once he was happy to have someone help him find the FLDSMDFR. Everyone else would have yelled at him or just understand. Suddenly he wished Sam was here to help them.

They began to walk again down the sidewalk and turned at the corner just like Flint had said they should. When they turned, there wasn't a street or a road. It was an alley. A dark alley with a dead end. The alley was narrow and had mice and rats scuttling on the ground. But this alley didn't have dumpsters or garbage bins like most alleys did. It was empty, only with a door at the end of the alley.

"It's probably a back door to a restaurant or some store." Brent squinted his eyes at the door. It was covered in rust and had a broken lock on it.

"We should get out of here." Flint turned to head out of the alley. Brent followed him, and as he turned around to follow Flint, the door creaked open and a face peeked out. Brent heard the noise and spun around to see the door closed. He shuddered and they left the alley.

xxxx

Sam Sparks rode in a taxi to work. She still had a headache from all the reporting from yesterday. Today they had a new location to tell the weather. Near the Empire State Building. She really didn't understand the difference from telling the weather in Time Square and on 5th Avenue or near the State Building.

As she stared out the window with a sleepy expression on her face, the taxi stopped at a traffic light. She watched the people on the sidewalk hurry by.

Then she saw… no it couldn't be. She rubbed her eyes and glanced out the window again. Yes it was! There was Flint and Brent talking on the sidewalk. Maybe it could be someone else, but she knew how Flint looked like even from a mile away.

"I'm getting out here!" she told the driver. Quickly she fished out some crumpled dollar bills from her handbag and handed them to the driver. Then she opened the door and managed to slam it as the traffic light turned green. Then she ran across the road, avoiding honking horns and zooming cars.

On the sidewalk she ran toward Flint and Brent. Now she was sure it was them. She grinned at Flint's crazy brown hair.

"Flint! Brent!" she shouted over the voices of other people. They both turned around and looked around to see where the voice was coming from. When Flint saw Sam, his whole face broke out into a big smile. Brent grinned too. She reached them and Flint hugged her tight. As he let go, she asked why they were in NYC. Brent opened his mouth to speak, but Flint kicked him hard. Brent winced and glared at him.

"We are just looking for something." Flint told her. It was half of the truth. He prayed that she wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Oh, ok. Well, I need to get to work. Maybe I'll see you guys after work or at my lunch break." She nodded and then looked down at her watch. Her eyes widened, she said a quick goodbye and hurried down the sidewalk.

"I'll call you, Flint!" she shouted, before the crowd swallowed her and she was out of sight. Flint watched her go. If it rained food today, her weather report will get very interesting…

Now they defiantly didn't know where to go. Flint had thought the alley was the way to the FLDSMDFR, but he had thought wrong. And now Brent was complaining about being hungry. He was mumbling something about not having breakfast and how he hadn't eaten dinner last night either. After pleading for ten minutes, Brent convinced Flint that they should eat something. Flint agreed easily. Had he even drank his coffee that morning?

They stepped into a small corner café; a waitress led them to a tiny table in the middle of the place. They sat down and Flint looked around. There weren't much people in here. Slow music was playing out of a portable radio on the counter.

Flint ordered himself a coffee and Brent got himself a bagel with earl grey tea. The waitress jotted it down and left. Brent was strumming his fingers across the tabletop and looking at the radio on the counter. Meanwhile, Flint was watching a man enter the café. The man was dressed oddly for such a beautiful day. He wore a dark blue trench coat and a matching dark blue trench hat. The collar of the coat was brought up; covering the man's face.

As the man sat down near the window, a waitress came over to him and he ordered something. When the waitress left, the man pulled out the _New York Times_ out of his pocket and began to read it. Quickly, Flint turned away and the waitress brought in his coffee and Brent's tea and bagel.

While Flint sipped his coffee, he felt someone watching him. He looked out of the corner of his eye and turned around ever so slightly. The man in the dark blue trench coat was watching him over the tops of his newspaper. The man was glaring at Flint as if Flint had done something. A shiver ran down Flint's spine and he turned back to his coffee.

"What's wrong?" Brent asked in a whisper.

"The man by the window is watching me." Flint hissed back and they both turned to look at the man. Except the man wasn't watching him. He was reading the newspaper, with the newspaper covering his entire face.

"You're probably just imagining things." Brent whispered a little louder. He finished the last of the bagel and got up.

"I'll just head to the bank next door to convert some of my ChewandSwallow money to American, or else we can't pay for the drinks and food." Brent told Flint and left the café. As he did, Flint saw the waitress appear at the man's table and hand him a coffee too. The man thanked the waitress and reached for his wallet that was inside the trench coat. As he pulled out the wallet, Flint saw a gun strapped to the man's belt under the coat. The waitress didn't seem to see, she just accepted the money and left. Flint's eyes widened and he sipped his coffee some more. The man was watching him, without any newspaper covering his hidden face. Flint turned around so that he saw the man too. Slowly, the man slid his hand inside his coat. Flint knew what he was doing.

At the same time, Brent came in and Flint got up. The man got up too.

"We have to get of here, _now_." Flint grabbed the money from Brent's hand and slapped it on the table. As they moved toward the door, the man pulled the gun and pointed it straight at them. Gasping, both Flint and Brent pushed the door open and a gunshot was sounded. The same time as the gunshot, Flint slammed the door and they ducked as the bullet ripped through the glass in the door and flew over their heads.

"What the hell?" Brent cried out and they both got up. They stood outside. There was the window, at which the man sat. Now he was gone and the waitress stood at his table; confused.

"Let's go." Flint began to walk the other direction.

"Why that way?" Brent asked, and still tried to catch his breath.

"The back door of the café is that way. The guy might have gotten out that way." Flint replied with anger at the edge of his voice.

"You want to follow that guy who tried to kill us?" Brent gasped.

"Yeah." Was all Flint did was nod. The gears in his head turned. He needed to find the man in the dark blue trench coat. No matter what.


	8. Chapter 8: Cornered

The street to the left of the Empire State Building was closed for two reasons. Firstly, the Weather News Network had to tell the weather there today. Secondly, the road was being fixed a little away from where Sam and Manny were to tell the weather. It was a hot day, and everyone ran around in shorts and t-shirts and little fans.

They still had a few minutes before they went live, so Sam and Manny sat inside their van. Manny was cleaning his camera lens, while Sam was fan herself with last week's weather report. She wondered how Flint and Brent managed in this week. They both wore long pants. But then, so did she. Patrick Patrickson had told her earlier that weather girls weren't allowed to wear shorts. Only jeans or other long pants. They also didn't allow tank tops. Manny was lucky. He was behind the camera, so it didn't matter what he wore. He, happily, was wearing his swimming trunks, since all his shorts were in the wash and a concert t-shirt. Sam didn't quite believe him. The reason he wore swimming trunks was to piss off Patrick. There were no swim clothes allowed in the studios.

"Sam Sparks! You go on in ten minutes!" someone called out from outside. Sighing, Sam checked her hair in the mirror. Quickly, she took her glasses off and slipped them into her pocket. Then she smiled at the mirror and then turned to Manny.

"Ready?" she asked.

He nodded and continued to wipe his camera lens. Then he perked up when Sam's Doppler Raider Effect 2000 Turbo began to beep. It only did that when there was a heavy storm was on the way. Otherwise it sat on the shelf collecting dust. Manny looked up at it and Sam took it off the shelf. She blew the dust off and Manny covered his camera so no dust gets on it.

When she opened it and switched it on, the screen flashed in her face and a zoomed out map of New York came on. The map flashed colors. Each color represented where the storm would be heaviest. She peered at it and gasped.

"Manny, a huge storm is heading our way." She whispered and showed him the screen.

"It looks bad." Manny frowned and glanced up at her.

"I know. Though I can't tell if it's a rain storm or hail storm. Can't be snow…" she peered at the screen and then sighing, slammed the thing closed and grabbed her microphone off the shelf. Carefully, she placed the Doppler back on the shelf. Manny heaved up his camera on his shoulder and they went outside.

The street was covered in wires and the WNN crew ran around to make sure that the sound was good and that Manny's camera didn't break out. Manny connected one of the wires to his camera and Sam stood in position with her microphone poised in her hand.

"Sam! You're on in 3…2…GO!" someone called out.

"This is Sam Sparks reporting live from the streets of New York City. To my left is the Empire State Building. All tourists out there, come to see it," Sam began and Manny lifted his camera up at the building for a second. Then back at Sam.

"Today we have yet another hot day with fluffy clouds! The temperatures range from 86° to 87° Fahrenheit, which is approximately 30°Celcuis. Be sure to take a stroll through Central Park and see the kite contest! But be quick! Soon we shall also expect a storm. So get your umbrellas out and be sure to stay indoors when it comes. This is Sam Sparks, signing off." Sam finished and Manny got one more shot of the clear blue sky. As he did, the clouds had begun to turn purple. Manny shut off his camera and everyone around blinked up at the sky. The clouds had begun to grow bigger and fill up the sky. A loud rumble came from the clouds and people gasped. Some ran off for cover, while others just watched with curiosity. It was nothing like anyone has ever seen.

"Manny! It's the storm we saw coming!" Sam gripped her microphone tightly in her right hand. He nodded and the sky erupted with bright colors. Another rumble came and then objects began to fall from the sky.

"It can't be." Sam whispered to herself and watched the objects get closer. It wasn't rain, or hail. It was cheeseburgers. As she held out her hand, she caught one and stared at it in her hand. It couldn't be, it just couldn't.

Around people, were either joyful or frightened. They all remembered what had happened to their city last time it rained food. Some even ran away for cover. Well, most people did. All were frightened.

Sam whipped out her cellphone and speed-dialed Flint. He didn't pick up the first time. Or the second. It was at the third time when he actually picked up. She pressed her phone to her ear.

"Flint! Why the heck is it raining cheeseburgers?" she demanded loudly. There was a silence at the other end for a few seconds.

"It's not me! I don't have the FLDSMDFR! Someone stole it from my lab! I swear, I have no idea what is going on!" he blurted out and Sam felt fear and worry scratching at the edge of his voice. She was confused. What was the FLDSMDFR doing in his lab? It had exploded along with the meatball and Flint had told her, he had covered it in his spray-on shoe substance.

"I know you have questions, but don't worry we'll be over right away. Where are you?" he asked.

"Left side of the Empire State Building. I'm not sure of the street." Sam told him and watched the cheeseburgers increase slightly in size. They now were about the length of her hand span. Normally they are supposed to be the size of a man's palm.

"Great. We'll be right over!" Flint hung up and Sam lowered her phone. Fear twisted in her stomach. If the food increased at such a rapid rate, it could be the sizes of cars by the end of the day. Or worse—city buses.

xxx

Flint and Brent stood on the sidewalk outside the café, as Flint shut his phone closed and stuffed it into his pocket. Now they had to get a taxi, get to Sam and maybe she could help them with finding the FLDSMDFR and the man in the dark blue trench coat. He needed to know, why the man wanted to shoot them in the café. Things just weren't adding up.

While Flint thought, Brent stood near the edge of the sidewalk and waved his hand to summon a taxi. The taxis just zoomed past him, and Brent waved harder. Flint came over and began to wave too. A beat up yellow taxi finally drove up and they clambered into the backseat. Flint told the driver to get them to the Empire State Building.

"Sure thing. I just dropped someone off there." The taxi driver smirked and he slammed his foot on the gas.

"Flint. Look." Brent pointed to a hat lying on the floor in front of Flint's seat. Slowly, Flint lifted the hat and his eyebrows shot up. The hat was dark blue and looked exactly like the one the man in the dark blue trench coat wore. Brent seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Do you think it belongs to him?" Brent took the hat from Flint and inspected it.

"Well, we'll see if he'll be wearing one." Flint pointed out and Brent shook his head.

"He could have a spare." Brent twirled the hat in his hands and dropped it back on the floor. This meant that either the man knew where they were going, or he was merrily following him.

xxx

The street was closed as they neared to the Empire State Building. The taxi driver told them to get out and Brent paid him with the money he had leftover. They ran under the "Road CLOSED!" signs and on the street with construction. There was no one in sight, except for a blue Weather News Network van and Sam and Manny who sat on the ground fanning themselves.

"Flint!" Sam grinned and got up. Flint blinked at her. Wasn't she supposed to be angry at him, for keeping the FLDSMDFR in his lab in the first place? Ah, well.

"I'll take the van back. Sam, can you take a taxi back?" Manny yawned and got up.

"Sure." Sam nodded and Manny took her microphone and his camera. As he loaded them into the back and then climbed behind the steering wheel, Flint wished he could have stayed. What if the man in the blue trench coat came back and they needed to get away fast? He had used the same taxi and the taxi driver had said that he had asked to come here too.

"So, tell me now. Where did you find the FLD…uh… SHMFR?" Sam stuttered; she still didn't seem to get the machine's name right.

"Yes, Flint. Where _did_ you find the machine?" came a crackling voice from behind them. All turned around and Flint felt a shiver race down his spine. Brent whimpered. It was the man in the dark blue trench coat. He had another hat.

Sam seemed to see the way Flint and Brent reacted, so she shrunk behind Flint.

"Flint, I really don't know how stupid you could've been. It is I, who has your invention." The man replied coldly. A chill went through Flint like a lightning bolt.

"Now, think about it. Would you like to join my side or let me kill you? I'd choose the first choice." He smirked. Flint shook his head. What kind of stupid choices were those?

"What about my friends?" he asked and narrowed his eyes at the man.

"I'll kill them." He snapped coldly. Brent whimpered again.

"Kill me instead." Flint snapped back and stood in front of Brent and Sam.

"I thought so." The man sneered and pulled a gun out of his belt. He pointed it at Flint and placed his finger at the trigger.

"_NOOOOO!_" came another voice. It was the man who had promised the man in the dark blue trench coat to kill Flint. It was one who wanted to warn Flint. Now he was racing at him in full speed.

Everything was now happening in slow motion before Flint's eyes.

The man pushed the man in the blue trench coat as he pulled the trigger. The bullet flew out of the gun and now aimed at Flint, at a strange curved angle. Before Flint could move, the bullet snapped through the air and ripped over his shoulder. But it made contact with his shoulder, and Flint screamed out in pain and clutched his shoulder as he stumbled. The bullet flew at Brent, who pushed Sam aside and he ducked.

The man in the trench coat ran at Flint and hit him with the gun in the other shoulder. A shriek of pain shot out of Flint and he collapsed to the ground. His arm twisted under him and his head it the ground with a crack. He lay motionless.


	9. Chapter 9: Waiting for a miracle

A silence rang out through the street. It was the type of silence that you got from shock. Not the silence, where no one knew what to say. The man in the dark blue trench coat had vanished, the man who had knocked the man in the trench coat still stood there. He came over to Sam and Brent.

Slowly, Sam knelt down and Brent knelt down beside her. Trembling, Sam gentle watched Flint lie there on his back. Reaching out, she stroked his hair gently and breathed out heavily. Then her hand traveled down to where Flint's heart was. She held her hand over his heart and felt the slow beating of his weak heart.

To the man who stood next to them, it was a terribly sad scene. The lady was kneeled over Flint and the other man was sitting next to the lady. Around them, cheeseburgers fell. The man came over and knelt down beside Flint too.

"I'm so sorry." The man whispered and Sam looked up to look at him. A sad smile played on her face like a broken record player.

"That's fine. You tried to save him," Sam nodded, "and my name is Sam." She told the man, in case he ever had to address her.

"I'm Brent." Brent nodded and didn't look up to meet the man's face.

"My name is Lucio." The man replied quietly.

Sam then told him to call 9-1-1. The ambulance had to come immediately. And the police. Lucio got up and took his cell out of his pocket. As he dialed, he watched as Sam leaned over Flint and whispered words as she stroked his hair. Brent was almost on the verge of tears. So was Sam. But she tried to hide it as much as possible. Lucio phoned 9-1-1 and got the police and ambulance to come. They would hurry over as fast as possible.

Lucio came over to Sam and Brent and knelt down again. Flint didn't seem to be breathing. He wanted to tell Sam, that Flint might die, but she was too calm now. They would have to wait a while.

xxx

A crackling grin was spread across the man in the dark blue trench coat's face. He paced back and forth inside the helicopter with a look of triumph gleaming in his eyes. He had killed Flint Lockwood. Now he could freely go into Flint's lab and take whatever was left. Btu that was for later. Right now he could mess with the food machine. His henchmen were looking through month old newspapers. They were trying to find the name of the food machine.

"Um, sir? I found the name." one of the henchman grinned and waved the newspaper in the air.

"Well, read it to me." The man in the dark blue trench coat smirked.

"It's called the Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator." The man blinked at the long name.

"_WHAT? _Abbreviate the name for me. It's too long to pronounce." The man in the dark blue trench coat waved his hand at his henchman.

"Um, FL…DISH…MD…FR?" the henchman tried to say the first letters of each word, but it came out into nothing. The man in the blue trench coat glared at him and snatched the newspaper. Clearing his throat, he tried to say the abbreviation, but couldn't.

"It's FL…DS…MDFR, you retard!" another henchman snapped at his boss.

"_WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RETARD? _Not my fault he named it so long!" the man in the dark blue trench coat thundered and threw the newspaper on the floor. Then he went over to the window of the helicopter, where the FLDSMDFR dangled from a string as it rained food to the ground. It had stopped raining cheeseburgers; the man in the dark blue trench coat pulled the FLDSMDFR back into the helicopter by the string and thought for a moment.

"What should be next on the menu?" he called to his henchmen.

"Apples!" one henchman cried out.

"Screw your apples! Make it rain spaghetti and meatballs! That made a tornado last time!" another henchman called out.

"That's when the machine gets heated up! Let's do ice cream! Then we'll go have a snowball fight! You're on my team, boss!" another henchman cried out gleefully. Nodding, the man in the dark blue trench coat pressed a few buttons on the FLDSMDFR and dangled the machine by the string out the window again.

An evil smile spread on his face, "Have fun with this New York." He replied and watched giant snowflakes fall to the ground below.

xxx

The ambulance and police cruiser came into view as they let their sirens wail. They drove right on the street, even if there was construction. A couple of doctors ran out of the ambulance and two officers followed from the police car. Brent told everything to the police about the man in the dark blue trench coat and how the FLDSMDFR was stolen to all the shooting. As he talked, the police watched the doctors load Flint onto a stretcher and slide him into the ambulance through the back doors. Sam climbed into the back of the ambulance too, and then called for Brent and Lucio to get in too.

"Coming!" Brent hollered back and said the last of it to the police and ran toward the ambulance. Lucio followed too, but nervously. This was his entire fault. If he hadn't stolen the machine, then Flint would still be in ChewandSwallow and he wouldn't in New York on his deathbed. But then, if he hadn't taken the machine, the man in the dark blue trench coat would have taken it and possibly killed the inventor right in his lab. So either way, Flint would have been killed.

The back of the ambulance was large area, and could possibly fit a few more people. Flint was on a stretcher which was tied down to a table in the middle, and the seats were all around him. Sam sat near his head and Brent sat beside her. Lucio just sat across from them.

The ambulance's engine roared to life and they rode off to the hospital. The police cruiser followed close behind. Through the small window, Sam saw that now it was raining ice cream. A soft, sad smile came upon her face as she remembered when it had rained ice cream in ChewandSwallow. How Flint had learned how to throw a snowball. Well, he had thrown it too hard, but she didn't care. He had experienced something which he hadn't experienced as a kid. And of course how many, kids he had made happy that day. She watched the giant fluffy ice cream fall outside the window. Then she remembered how Flint had made the ice cream into scoops. Now she looked back at Flint. The poor thing.

Brent was looking out the window too. A smile was on his face too. But not a happy one. It was the one Sam had shared. The one that brought sweet and sad memories to your mind. The kinds that squeezed at your heart and made you think of the one friend who was centered in those memories. The one who cared and had risked his life for his friends. Both Sam and Brent now looked down at Flint's peaceful face.

Sam touched the place where Flint's heart was and a frown trembled on her lips. It was beating at a slower rate than before.

"I think we might lose him." Sam whispered in somewhat barely than a whisper as a tear trickled down her face. She then leaned in and kissed Flint on the forehead. Then she burst into sobs and Brent put a comforting arm around her. If they lost Flint, Sam didn't know if she wanted to live anymore. If Flint lived, it would be a miracle. This was the right time for miracles to happen.


	10. Chapter 10: Grave news in the hosptial

The hospital soon came into view as the ambulance rumbled to the curb at the front double doors. The police cruiser came in behind the ambulance and the engine died down. The doctors opened the doors of the back of the ambulance and climbed into the back. They untied Flint's stretcher from the table and carried him out of the ambulance. Sam, Brent and Lucio followed close behind. The front doors of the hospital led them into a large waiting room. A counter was there, with a small clicking away on a computer, behind the counter.

The waiting room was filled with sick or hurt people. There were kids crying in their mother's arms and old people barely moving in their wheelchairs. Sam watched the poor people as Flint was brought into the waiting room. The doctors ran over to the counter and began to shout at the woman, while they placed the stretcher on the floor.

A little boy in a wheelchair was sitting with his mother, and had a frown on his tiny face as he watched Flint. Slowly, he wheeled himself over to Sam. She looked down at the little boy. His legs were missing.

"I hope he gets better." The boy gently told her and looked over at Flint.

"Thank you." She smiled softly at the poor boy and he smiled back and wheeled his wheelchair back to where his mother was sitting.

Now the doctors were lifting up the stretcher again and began to speed-walk toward one of the elevators. Sam, Brent and Lucio quickly followed them too. Inside the elevator it was quiet. The doctors had worried looks on their faces as they waited for the elevator to reach the third floor. It was thick and stuffy in the elevator as if everyone was holding their breath. When the doors opened to the third floor, the doctors ran down the hallway with Flint on the stretcher. They ran down the hall and into a room. The room had two beds on wheels against the right-sided wall and two chairs beside the first bed. Across the room was a giant window that showed the ice-cream fall outside in big snowflakes. Across from the beds, was another door to the bathroom. The doctors, gently took Flint off the stretcher and laid him on the bed. They pulled the blanket over him, up to his chin.

"We'll be back as quick as we can. We need to get the nurse and doctor." One replied.

"Aren't you guys doctors?" Sam asked them.

"We are, but we mostly drive the ambulance and treat people who are stuck at home." The other doctor nodded and hurried out the door. As they left, Lucio sat down in one of the chairs and Brent sat down too. Sam sat on the bed near Flint. She reached out and took his hand. It was still warm, which meant he wasn't dead. But the pulse in his wrist was slow and shallow. It was like he was in a very deep sleep. His pulse was like if you tap your finger on the tabletop every 3 seconds. That was slow. The heart was supposed to beat a lot of beats _per second. _

The door opened and a doctor came in with a nurse. Lucio and Brent got up from the chairs and Sam jumped off the bed. The doctor sat in one of the chairs, and the nurse had wheeled in some equipment and a small tray with tools.

The doctor took out his stethoscope and listened to Flint's heart beat. A frown passed on his face. Then he turned around to Sam.

"What happened to him?" the doctor asked.

"He was shot in the arm, and fell to the ground. I think he broke his arm and hit his head." Sam stammered and watched the doctor nod at every word. Slowly, the doctor pulled the blanket away from his shoulders. The left shoulder had a rip in his lab coat. The doctor sat Flint up with the help of the nurse and took the lab coat off. Then they laid him back down and the nurse handed Sam the lab coat. Then the doctor moved the chair to the left side of the bed and shook his head at Flint's left shoulder. His shirt was ripped at the shoulder and then wound on his shoulder was horrifying.

The skin had been ripped off, leaving dried blood splattered all over the shoulder and some of the shirt. The doctor ordered the nurse to get him a cloth and pointed to a brown bottle sitting on a shelf behind the bed. She dipped the cloth into the brown bottle and handed the cloth to the doctor. He gently, wiped away the dried blood and revealed a deep wound. Some of the flesh had been cut out and left a gap of nothing right there on his shoulder. Wincing the doctor, got up and grabbed another bottle from the shelf. It was some kind of cream. He spread the cream over the wound and then the nurse handed him a roll of bandaging fabric.

The shoulder was bandaged up and then the doctor inspected Flint's arms. One did turn out to be broken. The doctor told something to the nurse who hurried out of the room.

"Can you guys please wait outside for a few seconds? We'll call you back in shortly." The doctor told Sam, Brent and Lucio. They nodded and left the room. In the hallway there were a few chairs. They sat down into the chairs and Sam sat between Lucio and Brent. She dropped her head into her hands and began to cry again. Brent and Lucio just sat there, watching the nurse carry a tub filled with something and a few jars. She entered Flint's room and slowly closed the door behind herself.

"He'll be ok, Sam." Brent replied and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"How do you know?" she looked up at him and met his miserable face.

"I don't know." He whispered and she felt fresh tears come to her eyes. Brent was having tears trickling slowly down his face too.

xxx

The man in the dark blue trench coat was walking back and forth in the meeting room in his helicopter. A confusing look was on his hidden face. But it had shown in his eyes. His three henchmen sat in chairs in front of him and watched their boss pace in front of them. All were scared. Whenever their boss paced around the room, he usually came up with some insanely horrible idea. Sometimes they weren't ideas. Sometimes, they were just his thoughts. His horrible thoughts.

"Do you suppose Flint is really dead?" he asked his henchman in a loud voice and they nodded vigorously.

"Well, I don't think so." The man in the dark blue trench coat stopped pacing and now stood in a thinking posture.

"You can't go down there, boss! The police will get you! They are probably searching for you in every crook and cranny of New York City." One henchman cried out and sat straighter in his chair.

"I'm sure they are, but ever heard of a disguise, smart one?" the man in the dark blue trench coat snapped. The henchman shrank back in his chair and nodded his head slowly.

"There is a problem, boss. We have nothing on in this helicopter for you to wear." Another henchman piped up.

"True. So I'll just go like this," he surveyed his hands over his dark blue clothes, "I'm good at hiding and the police will take forever to find me." He told them and went into a nearby closet. He came out with a parachute pack and gave his henchman a thumbs up. Groaning, the man in the dark blue trench coat pushed the door of the helicopter. Cold air blasted into the helicopter and the henchmen shivered.

"Good luck, boss!" they chorused and the man in the dark blue trench coat jumped out of the helicopter. The henchmen peered out of the door to see their boss falling, until his parachute opened and he sailed to the ground. As they closed the door, a sigh of relief went around.

"I hope he crashes onto the top sharp point of the Empire State Building or something and never comes back." One of the henchmen sighed and the rest nodded in agreement.

"He's too demanding." Another grumbled.

"And we NEVER got paid once!" the last one groaned.

xxx

The doctor and nurse came out of Flint's room an hour later. Sam had fallen asleep with her head rested on Brent's shoulder and Brent's head rested on the back of his chair. Lucio was asleep too; curled up in his chair.

When the nurse and gently shook Brent's arm, he blinked his eyes open and sat up. Sam stirred and sat up too, rubbing her eyes. Shortly, Lucio had awaked too. All three glanced up at the nurse and doctor. A grave expression on the doctor's face.

"He had a cast on his right arm, bandaged on the left shoulder and bandaged around the head. His heart rate has become slightly faster, but is still he is weak. He was knocked out unconscious, but much worse than that. There is a 80% chance of him dying. There is the 20% chance, were he might live." The doctor said in a voice that sounded like it was choked up with tears.

"80% of d-dying?" Sam gasped. She held back her tears and began to tremble.

"But there still is the 20% of living." Lucio reminded her.

"We need to call his parent or guardian." The nurse told them.

"His father's name is Tim Lockwood. I'll give you the phone number." Sam murmured and took out her cellphone. Slowly, she went through her contacts until she came to Tim's number. She told it to the nurse, who dialed it into a cordless phone on the wall.

"Hello? Yes, this is Nurse Lynn of New York City General Hospital. No. Your son, Flint Lockwood is severely injured. Will it be possible for you to come right away? Yes. No. Um, yes. Thank you, goodbye sir." The nurse hung up the phone and turned to the small group.

"He said he's on his way." She sighed and the doctor nodded.


	11. Chapter 11: Good and Bad News

Night had fallen. Outside, the streets of New York City were dark, except for the lights turning on in every building. The hospital was full of doctors and nurses rushing toward late night patients. Sam, Brent and Lucio sat in the waiting room. They weren't allowed into Flint's room yet. The doctor had been inside there since lunch and the nurse kept on running out of the room with her face pale.

Tim Lockwood still hadn't arrived, and Sam was getting worried. It had been hours since they had called him. He was either stuck somewhere in the ocean or was stuck in taxi. The traffic was pretty brutal at this time. People were hurrying home.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom." Lucio got up. Slowly, Sam and Brent nodded and watched him go down the hallway and around the corner. When he left, Sam slumped back in her seat and stared at the ceiling. Manny had called her earlier and asked where she was. She told him they were in the hospital because Flint was about to die, so she wouldn't be coming to work probably for next few days. Manny had understood.

"Do you think they'll let us see Flint soon?" Brent asked Sam and stretched.

"I hope," she quickly glanced at the closed door to Flint's room, "Though I wonder what they are doing to him in there."

"Probably trying to keep him alive." Brent stared at the door. There was an awkward silence between them, until Brent spoke up.

"I feel horrible about bullying him in school. Never thought I'd see him die before my eyes." Brent gulped and Sam averted her eyes from the door and toward him. The sat for a few more minutes, until Brent leaned in his seat and looked down the hallway. He looked over at Sam and she blinked. They had both heard it. It was a scream. Not a scream of pain, but a scream of horror.

Instantly, Brent hopped to his feet. Sam stayed in her seat. Fear was chilling her spine. That was no ordinary scream. It was the same scream she had heard escape Flint when the bullet had ripped through his shoulder. Brent started down the hallway and Sam watched him go.

When he turned around the corner, Sam felt fear rising inside her. There was defiantly wrong. By that way, where the hell was Lucio? He had left long ago! Could the scream have anything to do with him?

Another scream erupted from around the corner and this time it came from Brent. Gasping, Sam hopped to her feet and raced down the hall and rounded the corner. She had come to another hallway and her eyes widened at what she saw. Brent stood over a body. His face was pale. Taking small steps, Sam came over to Brent and the body on the floor.

A puddle of dark red blood came from under the body. A hole was in the body's chest. Blood gurgled out of the body's mouth. It was Lucio. He lay motionless, clearly dead. Sam's eyes wouldn't leave the hole in Lucio's chest. It was a small hole, made from a bullet. Some dark blue fabric was held in Lucio's hand. Leaning over, Sam picked up the fabric and her face twisted with rage and panic.

"This belongs to the man in the dark blue trench coat. He's in the hospital. He must be after Flint." Sam flung the fabric back on the ground.

"Brent, go find the police who traveled with us to the hospital today. Or any kind of security. They must see this." She instructed and went back to the chairs near Flint's room. Brent ran to the elevator. The moment she flopped back into the chair, she saw a familiar face walked confusedly down the hallway. It was Tim Lockwood. He held a fishing hat, nervously to his chest and when he saw Sam his face brightened up a little.

"Hello, Mr. Lockwood." She got up to shake his hand. Nervously, he shook her hand and then asked where Flint was. She gestured at the door in front of them. Knocking on the door, Tim kept on gulping back choked down tears. He was scared to see his son. Scared to see death hovering over him. First it was Fran and now Flint. He could take it anymore.

Except when he entered the room and closed the door behind him. The room was dimly lit. The only light was coming from a small lamp on the table that shone on Flint. Tim's eyes traveled to the doctor and nurse who were doing something to him. The nurse was the one who had talked to him on the phone. She and the doctor stepped aside and Tim got a good look at his son. Never had he imagined seeing Flint in the state that he was in. It was horrible. Tim dropped his hat to the ground and came over to Flint's bedside. His son looked fragile. As if he could be snapped in half…

Brent appeared out of the elevator with two police following close behind. Sighing with relief, Sam got to her feet and approached the two officers. Brent led them around the corner and they reached Lucio's dead body. One of the officers shook his head.

"Two shooting in one day." The officer knelt down on one knee and picked up the piece of fabric.

"It's by the same guy too." Sam piped up. Both officers turned to look at her and one nodded. The officer held the fabric in his hands, until he pocketed it. He got up and adjusted his hat.

"The killer still must be in the hospital. He couldn't have gone far." The other officer planted his hands on his hips and looked down at Lucio on the ground. The blood had stopped draining out of the hole and the puddle was drying up on the floor. One officer said he'll be right back and ran out of the hallway. The other officer said that'll they will patrol the hospital for the night. One will patrol near Flint's door and the rest of the hallway and the other will be downstairs patrolling near the front doors.

The officer, who had gone, now reappeared with a doctor carrying a stretcher. The doctor saw the body and cried out. Rolling his eyes, the officer helped the other officer load the body onto the stretcher.

"I'll deal with it." The doctor nodded and dragged the stretcher by one handle, down the hallway. The officers, Brent and Sam all stared down at the dark red puddle of blood. The janitor will just clean it up later. They came out of the hallway and into the one were Flint's room was, along with the other rooms. One officer said he'll go downstairs and stay down there for the night. The other sat in one of the chairs near Flint's room and sighed.

"Let's go inside." Brent pointed to Flint's room. Nodding, Sam came up to the door and knocked. She hoped Flint was okay. She could bear to think that two people had died tonight. Well one for now. Lucio had saved Flint from the man in the dark blue trench coat. He had died thinking Fling might die. Not on a very happy note.

As they entered Flint's room, the dimness hit them. There was only a single lamp in the room, and it didn't seem to be giving too much light. Sam and Brent entered and saw the nurse and doctor talking to Tim; who sat in one of the chairs near the bed. A tissue box sat in Tim's lap and his hand held his son's.

Quietly, they approached the bed and Sam covered her mouth with her hands. She couldn't breathe. Brent gasped beside her and they both stared at Flint lying there on the bed. His hair was matted down to the pillow and his whole face was pale. It was so pale that it was like he could vanish any second. The bandage around his head covered half of his head and his forehead. A long stitch ran down his cheek. His shoulder had bloody bandages and his other arm held a cast that looked too big for him. His leg was bandaged up too. With all the bandages and cast, Flint looked smaller.

There was also more. A tube with something went under his shirt and the tube connected to a device near his bed. The device beeped silently and had a screen, which showed calm zigzags. They looked almost like straight lines. Sam knew what the device was. It showed your heartbeat. If the lines on the device became straight and rode along in a straight line, then the person was dead. She came over to the bedside and Tim got up, so that she could sit in his chair.

Brent stood behind her and she gently took Flint's limp hand in hers. She couldn't cry now. Right now she had to be brave and believe that Flint would live. The doctor came up behind her too.

"You two could sleep in this room tonight." The doctor addressed Brent and Sam.

"Thank you." Sam kept on holding on to Flint's hand.

"May I get an empty room to sleep in?" Tim spoke up.

"Of course." The doctor led Tim out of the room and Tim looked sadly over his shoulder once before leaving. Sam watched him go. The nurse followed the doctor and Tim and closed the door behind her as she left.

"You can sleep on the bed, over there." Sam told Brent and pointed to the empty bed across the room. He nodded and headed over to the bed. Sam took off her shoes and crawled in beside Flint. She huddled close to his side and sighed.

"Please, Flint. We want to back." She whispered so that Brent couldn't hear, from across the room. Silence filled the room, as Brent and Sam fell asleep. The only sound was the sound of the device, slowly beeping away through the night. When, Sam had fully fallen asleep, the lines on the device's screen went along a bit faster and the zigzags turned a tiny but jagged. Flint's heart was slowly recovering.


	12. Chapter 12: Keeping a watchful eye

**sorry for the technical difficulties that made this chapter into chapter 9. I think i fixed it...**

**XXXX**

Morning sunlight spilled in the room through the windows across the room. The room was flooded with light and came upon Sam's face. Yawning, she sat up and remembered where she was. Beside her Flint was still lying still. Her eyes moved over to the device next to his bed and she gasped with delight, when she saw that the lines were slightly jagged. She leaned in and pressed her ear to Flint's chest; where his heart was. A soft _thump thump_ met her ear and she grinned as she sat up in bed. But she couldn't be too excited. His heart beat might fall again.

Across the room, Brent was snoring loudly on the other bed. She put on her shoes and padded over to Brent's bedside. Nudging him, she watched as he stirred and fluttered his eyes open at her. Blinking, he sat up and instantly his eyes traveled to Flint across the room.

"How is he?" Brent asked worriedly.

"Much better. He's actually recovering." Sam gave a big sigh of relief and grinned over at Flint. Brent sighed with relief too and got up from the bed. He stretched and yawned loudly. They opened the door to the room and peeked out. The police officer, who had promised to patrol the hallways, was fast asleep in one of the waiting chair. Sam cleared her throat loudly, and he jumped up.

"Who's there?" the officer bolted up and stared up at them, "Oh. It's only you."

"What are you doing asleep?" Sam demanded and she folded her arms over her chest.

"Oh! I installed a security camera up on the ceiling to watch for me." The officer yawned sleepily. He got up and pointed to a security camera screwed to the ceiling. Sam asked if they could see the tape. The officer nodded and stood on his chair to reach the camera. He stood on his tip-toes and pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket. Carefully, holding the camera with one hand and unscrewing the camera with the other, he soon got the camera down.

"Now we need a TV." The officer told Sam. She shrugged and looked over at Brent, who was pondering on the thought.

"There is one in the waiting room!" he cried out and led them to the elevator. The elevator was broken, so they took the stairs. It was a couple of flights down, but they made it ok to the waiting room. Catching their breath, they passed a repairman fixing the elevator. In minutes, he had the elevator fixed and left. Brent groaned and complained that they could have waited a few minutes and taken the elevator.

The waiting room was empty, and Sam was happy. No one would complain if they switched off the early morning news and plugged in the camera to see the tape. She and Brent took seats around the TV, as the officer took out the tape and rolled it into the VCR.

"When are they going to make security cameras with discs instead of tapes!" the officer grumbled and turned the TV on. The tape was static for a few seconds, until it came to a picture of the hallway it was in. It showed the police officer sitting in the chair reading a magazine. Then he got up and came back with a coffee.

"Were you seriously that bored?" Sam asked as she watched the officer constantly get up and come back with something. Turning red with embarrassment, the officer grabbed the remote and fast forwarded. There was nothing for a long time. Just the officer sitting in his chair and slowly dozing off. It was all good for the next few seconds something flashed and Sam cried out to pause the tape. Instantly the officer pressed pause and they all leaned in. At the end of the hallway there was someone running. It wasn't the man in the dark blue trench coat. It was a man in black turtleneck sweater and dark blue pants. A dark blue hat was on his head. Squinting at the paused picture, Sam saw that the man held a dark blue coat in his hands. Never mind. It was the man in the dark blue trench coat. Why was his trench coat off? Too bad he wasn't facing the camera. They had just missed a chance of finding out that he really was. If they knew him, that is.

"Yep. He had been there." The officer nodded. He ejected the tape and turned the news back on.

"Yeah… Hey where is the other officer that was supposed to sit in this waiting room?" Brent pricked up and exchanged a puzzled glance with the other officer. Scratching his head, the officer shrugged and took a good look around the room. Then the three of them saw him appear out of the staff room with a steaming cup of coffee. He saw them all glaring at him.

"What?" he cried and came up to them. Sipping his coffee, he looked at each of them.

"You were supposed to be on watching duty!" the officer snapped at the one with the coffee.

"Well you weren't supposed to be asleep!" the one with the coffee snapped at the other one. Turning red, the officer said nothing and looked away.

"Anyway! We have to watch traffic on 42nd street today." The one with the coffee smiled and drained the last of his coffee. He threw away his paper cup and turned the other officer. Nodding, the other officer turned to Sam and Brent and shook their hands.

"It was nice meeting you." The officer grinned and shook their hands a second time around. He let go of their hands and tipped his hat. The other officer tipped his hat too and both officers exited the hospital.

They left and the room became quiet. Now, they had to think of what to do next. Curiously, Sam walked over to one of the windows in the waiting room and Brent followed her. She moved the heavy curtain away and gasped. The streets of New York had giant strawberries raining down. Last time it had rained big food, a meatball was forming in the sky. Thinking, Sam gasped and turned to Brent.

"He has it! We've been so stupid! The man in the dark blue trench coat has the FLDSMDFR!" Sam exclaimed and Brent furrowed his eyebrows. He still didn't quite get it. But he grinned when he realized that Sam had said the invention's name right. But he was confused.

Sam seemed to see the confusion rising in him and waved her hand at him, as if to wave him off.

"I'll explain later. Right now, I need to find the FLDSMDFR and the man in the trench coat." Sam lit up like a light bulb.

"Did you say 'I'? What about me?" Brent threw his hands into the air in confusion. Right now all he wished for was for Sam to explain things a little more. It was driving him completely crazy. Besides, she couldn't go out there all on her own! She'll just get shot or kidnapped. The man in the dark blue trench coat was sly and sneaky like a fox and could slide into a scene in a jiffy. Brent remembered how he had disappeared out of the café and Flint and he couldn't find him. He could appear out of nowhere and corner Sam, now that he knew who she was, and had seen how Flint had protected her from the bullet.

"YOU will stay here and see if Flint will get better. Then you'll call me." Sam instructed and planted her hands on her hips.

"So why can't YOU do that?" Brent demanded and glared at her.

"Because, I know the streets of New York City much better than you do and I know what I'm doing." She shot back and he frowned. Never had Brent really lost an agreement. He wasn't going to easily loose this one.

"You could get hurt and then Flint will get better, and you'll be lying in some alley injured! Or worse—DEAD!" Brent wailed and glared harder at Sam. She equally leveled his glare and narrowed her eyes at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and fell back into a chair. Worried, Brent wondered if he had overdone it. He knelt done in front of her and looked into her face.

"Please. Just trust me on this one." Sam looked pleadingly into Brent's blue eyes.

"Fine." Brent got up and Sam got up too. She gently took his hand and squeezed it. A small smile glowed on her face and she let go of his hand. Then she turned and headed for the front doors. The moment she stepped outside, Brent closed his eyes and prayed that she'll be ok. If anything happened to her, he will never forgive himself. Never. And Flint will kill him when he finds out that Sam was out chasing a murder and looking for an invention that almost blew the world last time.

As Brent headed for the fixed elevator he hadn't noticed that he was being watched. When the elevator doors closed behind him, a figure came out of the shadows and sneered as the person exited the hospital through the double doors. He had heard the conversation between Sam and Brent. Sam had better watch out.


	13. Chapter 13: Trails

It had been darkness and pounding all along. It had been flashing colors and quietness. It had been gunshot and screams. It had been stillness for Flint Lockwood, since the moment he was shot. He was weak as he lay in the hospital bed. Too weak to move or murmur a single word. But nothing had stopped him from opening his eyes. How long had it been, since he had last opened them. Who cared? He was opening them now! He wasn't dead! Flint had thought he had died. Probably because he had seen darkness for so many days. Fear gripped him as he opened them. His whole body ached and screamed in pain. But he was just in a hospital room. All alone. Where were Brent and Sam? Had the man in the dark blue trench coat killed them? He gasped and coughed at the rush of sudden air down his throat. It still hurt.

"Mr. Lockwood! You're awake!" the door opened and stepped in a nurse with a clipboard. She smiled warmly at him and Flint tried to smile back. But he couldn't. His jaw muscles hurt. He couldn't even nod.

"I'll be right back." She smiled a sweet smile and left the room. Flint wondered she'll be gone for. He needed to know whether Sam and Brent were okay. Then he realized he wasn't wearing his lab coat. Since he couldn't move his head, he shifted his eyes to the left and saw it hanging from the back of a chair. Relief filled him. Thank goodness.

"FLINT!" Brent suddenly slammed the door open and came into the room. Tim followed with his usual small smile on his face. _Wait!_ Flint thought, _If dad was here, who was taking care of Steve! And where was Sam?_

Brent and Tim came and sat down on the two chairs near his bed. Tim was smiling and had tears of relief and happiness spilling down his cheeks. Brent was grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you okay son?" Tim asked and eyed Flint's wounds and damages. Flint blinked in response. The doctor and nurse came in. They explained that Flint couldn't talk or move for a while; that he was recovering from the shock. Now Flint had a question for everyone in the room. He flicked his eyes to the window.

"It's raining giant strawberries." Brent's smile wavered away and a worried look flickered on his face.

Widening his eyes, Flint looked at the four faces looking down at him. This was bad. The food was mutating to large sizes again. The FLDSMDFR would once again unstoppable. The really bad news was that he didn't have his can of spray-on shoes with him. How were you supposed to stop the machine now? His phone didn't contain the kill code. He had to build a new one after the FLDSMDFR destroyed his last one. He wasn't risking another phone. It took forever to build one and then set up a number and ringtone in it.

"Oh, and I let our neighbors look after your monkey." Tim told Flint suddenly. Flint let out a tiny groan and thought about it. Their neighbors were the Devereaux. That meant Earl and his family. Earl was just the person. Flint imagined Earl chasing his monkey and wished he could laugh out loud. But he couldn't.

"And Sam had to go somewhere…" Brent replied and trailed off his sentence. Something told Flint that he wasn't going to tell him where. But it didn't sound good. Not by the way Brent said it. Flint narrowed his eyes. At least he could move his eyes and his eye muscles moved.

"We need to go check on another patient. We'll come back later." The doctor told them and he left along with the nurse. Tim got up too. He said that since Flint was okay now, he could go back to ChewandSwallow. Slowly, Tim got up and put his fisherman hat. Waving, he left the room. Brent made sure he was gone, before he leaned in and began to talk in a whisper.

"Sam went to find the FLDSMDFR and the man in the dark blue trench coat. She somehow figured out that he had the FLDSMDFR all along." Brent whispered. When he finished talking, he leaned back in his chair and Flint sat there speechless. _Why did Brent let her go? What was he thinking? She could get killed! Now I wished I died! Why couldn't Brent have gone? But then he might be killed. _Flint was yelling in his mind. He glared at Brent; who sighed and said it wasn't his fault.

"I'll call Sam and tell her your okay." Brent whipped out his cellphone and speed-dialed Sam.

"Hello?" came Sam's voice.

"It's Brent. Flint woke up the moment you left." Brent grinned.

"OH MY GOD! You're serious?" Sam shrieked at the other end and Brent had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"Yeah. Where are you? Anyone stalked you yet?" Brent joked.

"Very funny," she chuckled sarcastically, "I'm in a taxi headed for the same spot we were cornered at. The street that's under construction near the State Building." She replied quickly.

"Okay. Flint says 'hi'." Brent looked over at Flint and winked.

"Tell him I say 'hi' too. My phone has a very low battery. It'll shut off any seco-" Sam was cut off and her phone's battery died. Brent laughed and snapped his phone closed. He turned to Flint and crossed his arms behind his back. Brent yawned and looked ready to fall asleep.

"Sam says 'hi'" Brent gave an even bigger yawn and closed his eyes for a nap. Seeing that Brent was falling asleep, Flint decided to sleep a little too. He closed his eyes and the device at his bedside started to beep again as the zigzags dropped to almost lines. His heart was playing tricks again.

xxx

Giant strawberries littered the street and it had taken longer than usual to get to the Empire State Building than usual. The police controlling the traffic had to roll the food off the road and onto the sidewalks. There people complained that they couldn't go anywhere on the sidewalks, with strawberries blocking their paths. It had become troublesome, and now people were walking on the edge of the roads. This turned the usual four lanes into two. Cars were being held up and hundreds were late to work. All because of giant strawberries.

The street that held the construction was also littered with strawberries, so that construction workers had to clear away the food instead of working. One worker had tried to eat the whole strawberry. He couldn't even eat a quarter of the strawberry. It was just that big. He had ended up with a full and upset stomach.

Otherwise it was quiet. Sam was pissed that her phone had ran out of power. But as long as she knew Flint was okay, she was fine. She wasn't expecting any calls, except maybe from Manny that Patrick was wondering where the hell was she. But her job was the least she could worry about. The world (mostly NY) was being bombarded with food, and she had to stop it. She stood at the same spot Flint had been shot at. There was dried blood on the concrete. Some of the dark blue fabric from the man's coat (or hat or pants) was on the ground. She picked it up and rubbed it between her fingers.

Suddenly, her eyes caught more. There was more lying up ahead. And more after that. It was a trail. Could this be a trap? She watched enough cop TV shows, where the bad guy would sometimes leave a trail of something and the police or some random person would follow. Eventually the person would come to the end of the trail and be killed or tied up.

"This better not be a trap." She muttered under her breath. But one small part of her was telling her "NO! IT'S A TRAP!" The other side of her was telling her "Do it for Flint. Whether it's a trap or not, you could reach the FLDSMDFR."

"I'll do it." She said out loud and walked over to the other piece of fabric. With each piece, they led her to a metal door on the side of a building. Metal doors were always different things. Some led to boiler rooms, others led to basements. Both were dangerous and frightening to be in. But she was doing this for Flint and Brent too.

When she reached the door, one piece of fabric was caught in the door. Hesitating, she pulled the fabric, but it was still stuck in the door. _What if someone is holding on from the other side of the door?_ Sam thought in horror.

She pulled harder. There was defiantly someone on the other side. A door wouldn't hold a flimsy piece of fabric so tight. She could even feel the grip from the other side. There was someone there. Grunting, she pulled even harder and the fabric finally fell into her hand. Now she expected the door to slam open and the man in the dark blue trench coat holding a gun to her forehead. But there was nothing. No one at all. No man, no gun, and no door opened.

"Sam don't be such a chicken." She told herself and now gripped the handle to the door. Taking a deep breath, she swung it open and a rush of cold air hit her. It defiantly wasn't a boiler room. More like a cold, dark basement. Could the FLDSMDFR be hidden down here? Maybe. Slowly, she walked into the room and the door slammed behind her. Instantly darkness engulfed her. After standing in the dark for a couple of seconds; totally freaked out, Sam heard a click and the lights came on. Someone had turned on the lights. Someone was here.

Frightened, she scanned the room. It was just like all musty, cold basements. There was a bunch of old furniture collecting dust and cobwebs. The walls were made of bricks. The floor was dusty and so was the whole room. When Sam took a step forward, she kicked up some dust and it flew into her nose. Sneezing, her sneeze echoed through the room.

"Bless you." Came a hoarse voice. It came almost in a whisper. Chills ran down Sam's spine and her eyes scanned the room. Who the hell was that? Quickly, she took a step back and her hand gripped the door handle. It was locked when she tried to open it. Suddenly the lights went off and the room was pitch black. Whimpering, Sam heard footsteps coming closer to her.

Her heart was caught in her throat and she wished that it wasn't the man in the dark blue trench coat. If it was, she was defiantly screwed. There was no denying that.


	14. Chapter 14: Henchmen and Sushi

The footsteps came closer and closer toward Sam and she was ready to feel the cold metal of a gun tip against her warm skin. Or if the man in the dark blue trench coat had a dagger, then it would be the slicing blade that would make contact with her skin. That would hurt. The gun would be a quicker death, though. But Sam wanted to live. She had to get the FLDSMDFR and get the man arrested. This was all for Flint and Brent. Last time, Flint had risked his life in the Giant Meatball and now it was her turn to risk her life.

Instead of the cold metal of a gun or the sharp blade of dagger, she felt a warm hand grab her wrist and drag her. She tried to pull her hand away, but whoever it was held on tight and seemed to be leading her somewhere. She had to ask who it was. For sure it wasn't the man in the dark blue trench coat. He would have probably just killed her on the spot. Unless he wanted her alive for something. Her mouth opened to ask the person who it was, but she had to think it over. What if she wasn't allowed to speak? Well too bad. She had to.

"Who are you and where the heck are you leading me?" she demanded, trying to cover up the fear ripping through her voice. Now she was even more frightened when the person didn't answer for a couple of minutes. But they responded eventually.

"I can help you get the FLDSMDFR. So shut up and follow me." A manly voice replied coldly and relaxed his grip on Sam's wrist. She relaxed too and followed with quicker strides. When the guy's words processed through her mind, she brought up the first question: Could this be a trap? It could be. The voice was cold enough to freeze steel. Maybe it was the man in the dark blue trench coat.

"We're stepping into a really bright room so contrast from the dark room into the light room might hurt your eyes." The man replied in a warmer voice and let Sam's wrist go. He opened a door and they stepped into a blinding room. Quickly, Sam squeezed her eyes shut and stepped in after him. The light seeped in through her eyelids and when she thought it was okay, she opened her eyes.

The room was square and small. Four chairs sat in a circle facing each other in the middle of the room. The bright lamp hung over the chairs, so the rest of the room was a shadow. But she knew it was a small room, because she saw the faint outlines of the walls in the shadows. The man motioned for her to sit in the chair. Slowly, she sat and the man sat in a chair facing her.

Now she got a good look at him. He wore a black turtleneck and dark blue pants. There was a dark blue wool hat on his head. She almost jumped at the sight of the outfit. It was the same outfit she saw on the man who was running down the hallway (when they had seen the videotape from the security camera) and now he sat in front of her. Could this be the man in dark blue trench coat without his trench coat and trench hat? His face had rough stubble on it and his eyes were emerald green. He had thin lips and high cheekbones. And he was grinning playfully at her.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked and leaned back in his hair. He crossed on leg over the other.

"The man in the dark blue trench coat?" Sam asked meekly. Instantly the man began to laugh and almost fell out of his chair laughing. Watching him, she wondered if that meant no.

"Is _THAT_ what you call him?" the man roared with laughter and now actually fell out of the chair. After a few more minutes, he sat up and quickly scrambled into his chair, grinning from ear to ear.

"My name is Esto." The man held out his hand. Confused, Sam held out her hand and held out hers. Was this the man in the dark blue trench coat? She was really confused.

"I-I'm Sam Sparks." She stammered and dropped her hand.

"I'm one of the man in the dark blue trench coat's henchmen. And just like you I hate the guy's guts. I'll be right back." Esto smiled and got up from his chair. He walked over to a door on the shadowed side of the room and opened it. She heard him call someone. Then she heard thundering footsteps of many people. What if he was calling the man in the dark blue trench coat right now? This had to be a trap. Just now he could have been lying to her face, that he hated his boss's guts!

Two other men stepped into the room. One was tall and skinny and the other was short and sort of stout. Both grinned when they saw Sam and sat in the leftover chairs. Esto sat down too.

"Sam, meet his other henchmen; Reg and Jag." Esto motioned over to the other henchmen. The skinny one was Reg and the short one was Jag. Both held out their hands to Sam and she shook them politely. Their hands were warm and welcoming. Now she was having second thoughts about this being a trap. They seemed nice—for now.

"We need your help." Reg spoke for the first time and he was addressing Sam.

"Oh, I need your help too, I guess…" she shrugged and wondered if these three hated their boss, then they could help her get the FLDSMDFR and arrest the man in the dark blue trench coat. Everything was looking up very slowly.

"We need to help us hand our boss over to the cops. He won't pay us." Reg told her.

"And he's too bossy and commanding." Jag furrowed his eyebrows.

"AND he murdered my younger brother." Esto growled.

"Your brother—?" Sam thought for a moment.

"Lucio. You knew him. He saved your boyfriend's life." Esto shook his head.

Sam remembered Lucio and sighed. He was a henchman too and she never knew. He had probably been disloyal to the man in the dark blue trench coat, so the man killed him. But he saved Flint's life; or the bullet would have gone through Flint's heart.

"I wanted to ask you guys to help with the same thing, and get the FLDSMDFR too." Sam looked each of them in the eyes and they nodded understandingly.

"We'll help you and you'll help us. But first we must disguise you." Reg got up and held a black bag at Sam. She took the bag and pulled the contents of the bag out. It was a black turtleneck sweater, dark blue pants, black boots, and a blue wool hat. It was the henchmen's uniform. They wanted her to become one. Grinning, she thought this could actually work. She would just wash off her make-up, tuck her hair into the wool hat and pretend to be a new henchman. They would overthrow the man in the dark blue trench coat and Sam would get the FLDSMDFR. Then she would go back to being a weathergirl and go along with life. Unless the man in the dark blue trench coat knew who she was under her disguise.

xxx

For two hours Flint had slept and when he woke up, so had Brent. Now his jaw and mouth muscles didn't hurt as much and he was probably able to talk. But his head still ached and he couldn't move it. In fact, he couldn't move the rest of his body. There was also a sharp pain in his chest. Nearest his heart. Every time he took a breath of air, a twang of light pain would blaze up his chest.

"Brent, call the doctor." Flint replied hoarsely. He didn't even recognize his own voice. It had changed somehow.

"You're talking!" Brent raised his eyebrows in awe and ran over to the button on the wall, near the door. When he pressed it a sharp buzz came out and the doctor or nurse was to come soon. They heard a voice over the intercom: _Doctor Jetts please report to room #316._

"That's you. The doctor will be here shortly." Brent sat back into his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

Suddenly something hit the window across from the bed and Brent hopped to his feet. Alarmed, he ran to the window and Flint trailed him with his eyes. A look a complete horror spread through Brent's face and he pressed his nose to the window. Flint watched him and wondered what could be so bad. Then Brent stepped away from the window and Flint heard the sound of an ambulance outside.

"It's raining sushi. They pieces of sushi are HUGE! They are maybe bigger than a city bus! One just smashed a car outside and the ambulance came to save any hurt people." Brent gasped and turned to Flint.

"What have I done?" Flint muttered to himself and closed his eyes. It was his fault he had rescued the FLDSMDFR and it was his damn fault that he had fixed it up. Why had he fixed it up? Maybe because he felt bad for it. But he didn't feel bad to see his remote control TV running crazily around ChewandSwallow. Why couldn't he fix up the TV? Or what about the first version of the flying car? It was still on the bottom of the ocean. Why didn't he pull that thing out and fix it up? But then for that example, he had built the second version—this time with wings. But why the FLDSMDFR? Flint felt his head sink deeper into his pillow. _I'm such an idiot._ He thought angrily to himself. Now he had a serial killer chasing him and his invention was hanging somewhere in the sky.

Then there was Brent; who had decided to let Sam go and do the dirty work. Why couldn't she have waited till he was better and then they could have all gone? _Because I won't get better anytime soon._ Flint thought miserably.

The door opened and the doctor came in. He held a clipboard close to his chest and he ran over to Flint's bedside and sat down in one of the chairs. Brent turned away from the window and watched the doctor.

"What's wrong?" the doctor asked worriedly and his eyes traveled to beeping device beside Flint's bed.

"My chest hurts when I breathe." Flint rasped and watched the doctor jot something down onto his clipboard. Then the doctor got up and turned to the shelf over Flint's bed. He pulled up a small bottle with white liquid. Then he took a small cup off the shelf and poured some of the liquid into the cup. Slowly, he raised the cup to Flint and Flint gulped down the contents. Wincing at the taste, Flint shut his eyes and sighed. Deep sleep washed over him again. The liquid ran through his veins and reached his heart. It clenched at it.

Then the doctor left briskly and Brent watched him go. Narrowing his eyes, Brent wondered why the doctor wore a dark blue sweater under the doctor's coat. He remembered perfectly well, that the doctor had an orange shirt on before. That wasn't the doctor. If it was, then why had the doctor changed his shirt?


	15. Chapter 15: Drugged

Brent watched as Flint collapsed into a deep sleep. Worry filled him. That was a different doctor. Defiantly not Dr. Jetts. Who had that really been? And where was the real doctor? Suddenly as if on the cue, the door slammed open and the real Dr. Jetts stepped in. It was defiantly him, because of the orange shirt and the familiar face.

"What's wrong? Did you buzz the button?" Dr. Jetts demanded and came into the room. He closed the door behind him and watched Brent; who was pacing back and forth nervously.

"Yes, I did. Flint said it hurt when he breathed. But a doctor just came in and gave him some medicine." Brent finally turned to the doctor and his face paled. Dr. Jetts watched him with the widest eyes ever. The doctor asked what medicine and Brent showed him the bottle with the white liquid. When Dr. Jetts read the label of the bottle, all the color drained from his face and his hand trembled. Then he turned to Brent.

"This is the wrong medicine. This is for putting a patient to sleep during surgery, so they don't feel the pain. But if the medicine is overdosed, the patient will be put to sleep—forever. In harsher words, the patient will be dead in hours. How much did Flint drink?" Dr. Jetts put the medicine bottle back on the shelf and sat down shakily into one of the chairs. Brent showed him half of a paper cup. The cup was a large one. When the doctor saw the cup size, he cried out and dropped his head into his hands. A cold chill raced down Brent's spine and he realized what this meant: Flint would be dead in hours. They had to save him.

Getting up, the doctor ordered Brent to open the door. Nodding, Brent did so. Since Flint's bed was on wheels, the doctor wheeled the bed right out the door. They rolled it into the elevator and the doctor pressed the 4th floor. The elevator zoomed up the one floor and the doors opened. The first thing Brent saw when they came out onto the 4th floor was a sign that read: NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. NO EXPLOSIVE OR FLAMABLE DEVICES. PLEASE PUT ON MASK WHEN ENTERING EACH ROOM. THANK YOU. More chills ran down his spine, when Dr. Jetts handed him a cloth mask that wrapped around his nose and mouth. They rolled the bed down the long hallway and came to the last room.

xxx

Sam was dressed like a henchman as she followed Esto, Reg and Jag up a winding staircase to the rooftop of a building. They were in the same building that they had found her in. The hallways of the building were all empty and abandoned. There wasn't a living soul in sight. Reg explained to Sam that this used to be an office building until the company was shut down. Some new business was to move into the building next year. Thank god it wasn't now. Otherwise, people would wonder why four people dressed in dark clothes lurked through the halls.

"There is the door." Jag pointed to a worn down door at the end of the winding staircase. They reached the door and Jag pulled it open. Immediately a strong wind smacked them. It was cold up on the rooftop. Sam was grateful that the roof was a flat one. The wind would have blown them right off. But now that they were on the roof, Sam wondered what was to come next.

"Our headquarters are in a helicopter." Esto told Sam, when he saw her glance around.

"How do we get into it, if landing it will give too much attention to the people on the street below?" Sam asked and squinted up at the sky. Smiling slyly, Esto pulled out a weird looking whistle. It was long and narrow, with one small hole at the end of the whistle. It was a dog whistle. The trick with those was that dogs could hear it, but humans can't. Esto blew into the whistle three times and Sam blinked. Suddenly they heard millions of dogs barking from different places in the city. They barked louder and louder each time. Esto grinned and pocketed the dog whistle. As he did, a rope ladder appeared out of the sky.

"What in the world?" Sam watched the rope ladder with caution written all over her face.

"When our boss hears the dogs bark, he knows we blew the dog whistle. So he drops the rope ladder for us, to come into the helicopter." Reg explained and began to climb the ladder. Jag followed close behind.

"Ladies first." Esto bowed comically and Sam smiled sadly and began up the rope ladder. Flint had said those words too. She hoped he was alright. Brent had said he was, but you could never be too sure. Flint could black out any second. _Stupid man in the dark blue trench coat! It's his entire fault!_ Sam thought angrily and continued to climb. The ladder was wobbly and she was sure that any second the ladder would snap and they would all crash to their death. More importantly, she couldn't look down. It would be the end for her if she did. But then she wasn't all that afraid of heights. She had to jump from the flying car with Flint and Brent, back when they found the Giant Meatball.

"We are almost there!" she heard Reg shout over the wind. It was also getting colder as they climbed further and further. Sam was grateful for the thick sweater she wore and the wool hat on her head. Above, Jag and Reg were disappearing from sight, into the clouds. _Is this helicopter really this far up?_ Sam thought bitterly.

"Sam are you alright?" she heard Esto ask her from below. Nodding, she realized that she had stopped climbing. Her hands were gripping the rope tightly and her knuckles were turning white. Taking and deep breath she continued to climb. Her climb was coming to an end when she saw a giant helicopter buzzing in the air not too far from where she was. It was a huge black helicopter and she understood why it should be hidden. Any lower to the ground and it would be seen. It was maybe one of those government helicopters. She figured the man in the dark blue trench coat stole it.

Then she saw it. The FLDSMDFR was dangling out of one of the window and was making it rain giant sushi. The machine was half covered in food and was shaking uncontrollably as it pushed the food out of itself. Angry was building up, as she finally made it to the end of the rope ladder and Reg helped her into the helicopter. Esto followed close behind.

"Welcome to our home." Jag surveyed his hands around and rolled the rope ladder into the helicopter. When he did, he slammed the sliding door and warm air engulfed them.

They stood in a giant room with windows all around. At one side of the room were the controls and steering devices for the helicopter. At the other side of the room were three doors leading into other rooms. In the middle if the room were two couches and an armchair all facing a glass coffee table in the middle. It was clean and mess-free. Sam was surprised to see a murder kept his home so tidy.

Suddenly, one of the doors opened and the man in the dark blue trench coat came out wearing a doctors coat, with the collar brought up; making his face hidden as always. Freezing on the spot, Sam didn't know how to react. Really, she wanted to dial 9-1-1 right away, but then she also wanted to come up to the guy and punch square in the face, for what he did to poor Flint.

"Boss, we found you a new henchman." Esto stood up straighter and Sam straightened up too. Slowly the man in the blue trench coat (doctor's coat) turned around and met Sam's face. His eyes locked into hers and her knees began to feel weak. There was something frightening by the way his cold eyes dove into hers. But she didn't dare rip her gaze away from his. The last thing she needed was the man to think she was a chicken. She had to show him she wasn't afraid (though, really she was about to faint).

"Hmmm… Well, okay. He'll replace Lucio for the time being. What's his name?" the man demanded and now averted his eyes and looked over at Esto.

"Flo." Esto stammered and Sam was grateful that he hadn't given her a long name. No matter what, she couldn't forget the name, or the man will think differently of her.

"Welcome, Flo," the man looked over at her again and now surveyed her from head to toe. Narrowing his eyes, he took a step forward and crossed his arms behind his back. _I think he knows who I am. _Sam thought in horror. She kept a straight face and finally he turned away and began to pace across the room.

"I've accomplished something grand today." The man cackled suddenly walked the full length of the room. Sam watched every single one of his steps nervously. Mostly, she watched his hidden face. If only his collar was lowered and she saw who he really was. That would be helpful.

"What is it, boss?" Esto, Reg and Jag all asked at the same time as if they asked the same thing every time he told them that he accomplished something.

"I think I killed Flint Lockwood for real this time. I drugged him with the sleeping medicine." The man laughed evilly and threw his head back for effect. The henchmen all watched him with bored expressions. All except Sam was about to break down into tears and screams. She felt sick on the inside. Esto side-glanced at her and a worried expression crossed his face, when he saw the expression on Sam's face. She looked pale as a ghost and her eyes were turning red, from trying to contain her tears.

"Um, Boss? Flo doesn't feel so good. I'll go show him to the sleeping room." Esto came to Sam's rescue. Nodding absent-mindedly, the man waved them away and continued to tell Jag and Reg about his victory, while Esto led Sam through one of the doors.

They entered a room with a couple of beds lined up and Esto led her to a bed. Sam lay down on the bed and Esto sat down on the edge. Tears spilled out of Sam's eyes. She began to cry and hoped the man in the dark blue trench coat didn't hear her from the other room. Flint was dead. This was the end. Sniffing, she wiped away her tears when she thought if the doctors could save Flint. If they didn't, she would let the man in the dark blue trench coat kill her.

"I'm sure the doctors will save him." Esto whispered as if reading her mind.

"What if he is really dead?" Sam shook and buried her face into the pillow. Memories entered her mind of that day in the Jell-O Dome, when Flint had asked her out to an "activity". How he had made a food request for and how he had made her forget all her worries as they bounced around in the Dome. If Flint was dead and she was killed by the man, then who would visit the Jell-O Dome? Who would take care of Steve? What about Tim Lockwood who already lost Fran Lockwood? What would happen to Flint's lab?

"Let's hope not." Esto sighed and looked up at the ceiling…

_ "Where are we going?" Sam asked with a look of confusion crossing her face._

_ "Oh! Nowhere! I thought I'd be nice to go on a walk together, you know like you do as friends…" Flint punched Sam playfully in the shoulder and then nervously looked ahead. His face lit up when he saw what was ahead. Sam watched him with a weird expression on her face._

_ "Oh my! What's that?" Flint suddenly motioned to a giant Jell-O Dome standing in the distance. Sam's face lit up._

_ "Wow! Jell-O's my favorite!" Sam gasped and they approached the Dome. _

_ "You never made a request so I made one for you." Flint smiled sweetly and then ducking disappeared into the Jell-O Dome. _

Sam cried harder as the memory passed through her mind. They might never see other again. She imagined Flint lying limp in the hospital bed and the device next to him not beeping at all.


	16. Chapter 16: A puzzle

Maybe it was the heat in the hallway or the rough chairs in the waiting room. There was a single chair in the hallway and sweat defiantly dripped down Brent's face. Why had the hallway become so hot all of a sudden? He wondered how Flint was doing in the room. The doctor had been in there for FOUR whole hours. Brent, being the listener that he was, listened to the sound coming from the room. There were absolute silence, except when a scream came from the room and Brent sprang up. An ear-blasting gunshot came from the room and cold fear gripped Brent. _What the hell is going on in there?_ He widened his eyes and ran over to the room. His began to tug on the doorknob, but it was locked.

"FLINT!" Brent pounded his fists on the door. Another gunshot exploded and another scream came. Brent knew that scream anywhere. He had heard the same scream when Flint science report was ripped up in 5th grade. It was the scream that erupted through ChewandSwallow when Fran Lockwood died and Flint was told the news. It was Flint. Brent then kicked the door with all his might and the door fell open.

Orange smoke filled the room and it was hard to see anything. Blindly, Brent located Flint's bed. Flint was wide awake shaking. It was good that Flint had not been harmed, but where the heck was Dr. Jetts.

"He's dead. I think." Flint shook and pointed to a body flung across the floor. The smoke detectors in the room sucked up the smoke and now the room was clear. The doctor was lying across the floor. He lay on his back and his eyes were wide open.

"G-get F-flint out of here!" the doctor rasped and then sat up. His eyes were wide, until they shut closed and the doctor stopped breathing entirely. Brent turned to Flint and nodded at him.

"You heard what the guy said. We gotta get of here. We gotta find Sam. She must in danger." Brent told him and planted his hands on his hips. Closing his eyes and holding his head, Flint sat up for the first time in a long time. A ragged breath came out of him and he nodded slowly. Then he swung his legs over the bed and wincing stood on two legs. Brent came over and helped him.

"I'm fine." Flint opened his eyes and his head spun with dizziness. After he took a few wobbly steps, he was able to walk on his own and followed Brent out of the room. Worried, Brent looked over at Flint. His arm had a cast on it and his head was bandaged too. His shoulder was too. But his legs worked fine and that was the most important thing of all. If they had to run, he would have to run.

"What happened in the room?" Brent demanded as they entered the elevator. Sighing, Flint leaned against the walls of the elevator.

"I awoke and I heard gunshot. A bullet had whizzed past me. One shot the doctor. The person who had entered the room wasn't the man in the dark blue trench coat. Well yeah it was, but he was… shorter. I saw his mouth too. He had a blood-thirsty grin on his face. His eyes were brown. But the rest of his face was a shadow. I'm sure it's not the same man who tried to kill me earlier. He was different in a way. The orange smoke smelled of tomato sauce. It reminded me off the spaghetti tornado." Flint mumbled into the wall and he felt dizzy again.

"It's probably some henchman." Brent waved him off and they reached the first floor. The doors pinged open and they came into the main waiting room. The lady behind the counter watched them as they left the building. But Flint didn't think it was a henchman. It was familiar. Like he had seen the grin before. The smell had also hinted something. He knew it did, but what? Ideas buzzed around in his head, but things didn't click together. His mind still hurt. What happened during the spaghetti tornado that tied with this? Something was going to happen.

xxx

Night had fallen and Sam Sparks slept in her bed. In the other beds slept Esto, Reg and Jag. Jag was snoring loudly so it was hard to concentrate on sleep. But then, Sam was also much too afraid to sleep. Right in the next room, slept the man in the dark blue trench coat. How could you sleep when a killer was right next door? Maybe she just needed to get a glass of water and take a deep breath. That's all.

Rolling over in her bed, she got up opened the door to their sleeping room. She came out of the room and closed the door quietly. The main room was dark, except for a small light shining down on one of the couches. Gulping, Sam approached the couch and peeked. There was the _New York Times_ spread across the couch. Slowly, she picked up the newspaper. And began to read the article. It was about the man in the dark blue trench coat. About how he murdered Lucio and the shooting. She wondered who was reading this.

"Find anything interesting?" came a crackling low voice behind her. Gulping she turned around and found the man in the dark blue trench coat standing there. In his coat and hat, as usual. Suddenly she remembered she was one of his henchmen. _Act calm, Sam._ She told herself.

"Not really, boss." She replied in a slightly low voice.

"Can't sleep? Neither can I." he walked across the room and came over to one of the helicopter windows.

"No, sir." She stammered. Slowly, she placed the newspaper back on the couch and blew out a comforting sigh. He wasn't shooting anyone, or killing anyone. But he had possibly killed Flint. She hated him for that. Then a radio crackled from the helicopter controls and the man pressed a button.

"_He's alive. The doctor is dead. I think he escaped." _Came a familiar voice out of the radio and Sam almost jumped. There was something about this voice that sounded so familiar that she wished she could ask the man in the dark blue trench coat a few questions. But the voice had said someone was alive and that a doctor was dead. Was that Flint? Where had he escaped? But then where was Brent? Had they both ran off? What about Flint's injuries? Could he even walk?

Then she watched the man in the dark blue trench coat turn around and took a good long look at Sam. She felt goosebumps run down her arms. Then he came closer. They stood a few feet away from each other and Sam now saw his eyes. They were brown and narrowed to small slits. He pulled something out of his pocket and Sam watched him. It was a gun. Slowly, he dropped the gun on the other couch and then took a dagger out of his pocket. Still watching her, he dropped that on the couch too.

"I want to do this without harming you." The man in the dark blue trench coat whispered, "For now at least."

Sam watched him pace back and forth across the room. He stopped looking at her. Now he stared down at the floor. His pacing made Sam quiver.

"I know who you are, Miss Sam Sparks." He replied coldly. Now he looked up at her and approached her. As he passed her. He pulled her wool hat off and her hair fell out of the hat and fell around her face. Now she was frozen. _He knew all along. All this time HE KNEW! _ She thought in her head. There was a silence until the man in the dark blue trench coat disappeared into his sleeping room and came back with a wooden chair and some rope. Horrified, Sam wondered what he was planning to do.

"Sit." He motioned at the chair.

"No." Sam took a step back. The chair had death written all over it.

"I promised to do this without any guns or dagger. If you want it to be the hard way, I won't mind." The man in the dark blue trench coat snapped. Taking another deep breath, Sam came over and sat down. Then the man's movement came down much sharper and quicker. He tied rope around Sam's waist to the chair. He tied her wrists together and her ankles together. Before she could scream, he gagged her with a grey cloth.

"If Flint is really alive, then he is probably searching for you right now. What a nice surprise it'll be if he comes here." The man in the dark blue trench coat laughed and switched off the lights. The room was plunged into darkness and Sam heard him walk away. The room was dark and frightening. Sam began to cry silently. Tears stained the cloth around her mouth and dripped down on her pants. What had she gotten herself into? She was supposed to help Esto, Reg and Jag over throw the man in the dark blue trench coat, but she ended up gagged and tied up.

What about the FLDSMDFR? Closing her eyes she listened closely. Then she heard it coming from the open window. A soft humming. It was a sad humming as the machine pumped out the food. What was it raining now? She then opened her eyes and turned her face to the moonlight shining from the open window across the room. The FLDSMDFR hung outside. It wasn't raining anything. Just hung there humming softly. She closed her eyes and just listened. It was all she needed now. The FLDSMDFR was the closest thing she had to Flint.

She wished this nightmare would end. She wished she could just open her eyes and find herself asleep in her apartment. But when she closed her eyes and opened them, all she saw was darkness. There was no escaping this nightmare.

xxx

"Brent?" Flint sat up in bed. They had stopped in a hotel for the night. For the rest of the day they had looked through every alley and corner in almost all of New York City.

"Flint, go to bed." Brent mumbled sleepily from the other side of the room, from his bed.

"I'm scared." Flint turned his head to the window. The curtains were closed, but a sliver of moonlight still managed to seep through the thin fabric.

"Of what! No one can get you in this hotel!" Brent grumbled and covered his ear with is pillow.

"He could find us." Flint lay back down and thought of Sam. Was she asleep in a hotel somewhere too? Earlier Brent had said that her phone's battery died. That was what worried Flint most. She could be in trouble and they never knew. But for tomorrow they had a plan. When it rained food, they would see from which part of the city it rained hardest and that was where the FLDSMDFR was. In the sky.

"Flint, I didn't sleep in a long time. Just get some sleep!" Brent pleaded.

"Fine." Flint nodded and lay down.

Tomorrow they had to find Sam. No matter what.


	17. Chapter 17: Tornado & Men in trenchcoats

_No matter what. _Where the words that spun around in Flint Lockwood's mind as he and Brent stood on the deck of a small boat. There had been a slight change of plan. Flint had another plan, and poor Brent had no idea what it was. He just followed Flint. To him it seemed that Flint was going back to ChewandSwallow. WHY? How could they go back at a time like this? But this was Flint Lockwood they were talking about. The young inventor had something up his sleeve. Brent was relieved that Flint's brain was working just fine.

The docks of ChewandSwallow came to view and Flint leaned on the railing and squinted his eyes. The boat parked itself along the first dock and Flint quickly jumped out. Brent followed. The moment Flint's feet hit the ground, he sprinted off. A huffing Brent followed close behind. They ran down Main Street and got many confused glances from the townsfolk. They hadn't seen Brent and Flint in a long time. Before anyone could ask anything, the two were on the run. It seemed to Brent that they running to Flint's lab. WHY? This was no time for building anything or getting anything. They HAD to go back to New York and find Sam along with the FLDSMDFR!

When they reached Flint's house, both instantly slowed down and crept back to the yard. Flint didn't want Tim or Steve to see them now. They had to do this and then get the hell out of here. Sam was in trouble. Flint sensed this.

"Stay here, in the yard." Flint instructed to Brent and ran to his lab. In the elevator he tapped his foot impatiently. It felt like time was stretching itself on purpose. Just to slow them down and to tell them to relax and wait it out. _I waited much too long. I was stuck in a hospital bed for days! _He thought angrily to himself. The moment the elevator came to the spot, he flung the elevator door open and raced down the pink tunnel, tripping over his own feet. His lab was the way he left it: unmade bed, untouched coffee cup and the white cloth that covered the FLDSMDFR was draped over the table.

Thinking hard, Flint strode across the room and was relieved that Steve wasn't her. For now at least. Earl was probably still taking care of the troublemaker. But he missed the monkey's big help. Then he ran over to his blueprint shelf. His blueprints were messily flung across the shelf in a big heap. Many times had he promised himself to clean it up, but never had the time for it. When he found the blueprints he needed, he carried them over to the table and looked them over. There were stray notes and pen marks written all over them. Sighing he began.

"Redesigning!" He grinned and grabbed a red pen to write over the blueprints. Then he ran across the room doing things to help him build his new design of an old invention.

"Connecting!"

"Powering!"

"Wiring!"

"Sawing!"

"Welding!"

"Flattening!"

"Networks Secured!"

"Lights! Turbo! Engine!"

"Installing final touches!"

Grinning at his handiwork he stepped back and never felt happier. It was done, finished and had new touches. Then he grabbed the remote and taking a deep breath pressed the center button. Instantly a rush of hot air blew out of the machine and a gust of blue gas pumped out. A loud roar came from the invention and Flint raised his hands to the ceiling and threw his head back a laugh of triumph exploded from him over the roar of the machine. Now they could get a move on.

Brent waited outside. He was getting impatient and tired. How long did it take to get something? When he heard a loud roar, he jumped and turned his head to the direction of Flint's lab. Suddenly, two wooden doors of two crates opened and Brent saw that they were connected to the lab. The doors opened and there stood something big and the moment Brent saw it, he gasped. Flint waved as he came out of the wooden crate too. Was it some kind of garage? That didn't matter now. What was towering beside Flint was what mattered.

"Brent, may I present The Flying Car 3. Now with twice the speed, twice the strength and included with a personalized tracking system." Flint beamed proudly.

"The _Flying Car_? Are you sure? I remember what happened last time. We were attacked by super- mutated pizza! And it damaged the car. Who knows what's flying around the FLDSMDFR now!" Brent cried and watched Flint open the side door and climb inside. Hesitating, Brent climbed into the passenger seat. The car now had seatbelts. The previous version didn't. _Thank god for that._ Brent thought. Blowing out a sigh, Flint started the engine. It roared like a monster and he hoped his dad wouldn't wake up. His dad slept through anything, so this was nothing.

"Let's go." Flint backed up a little and then gripped the steering wheel. He slammed on the gas pedal and the car flew up. Brent held on to his seat and even tightened his seatbelt a little. Flint wasn't exactly the best pilot/driver. But that didn't matter now.

xxx

It had to be morning. The sunlight was streaming into the empty room and the sun's heat came in through the windows. The FLDSMDFR was dangling from the window and the humming had stopped. Its stench filled up the room quite soon. It was the smell of spoiled food. The FLDSMDFR must have some food stuck on the inside and now it was rotting there. Yuck. The worst thing about the situation was that Sam couldn't cover her nose with her hands. They were tied to the chair and only her mouth was gagged. Her nose was out in the open.

"Sam!" came a sharp intake of breath behind her. She couldn't turn around, but by the voice she knew it was Esto. More footsteps came. Reg and Jag must be with him. Maybe they could help her out. The man in the dark blue trench coat was asleep.

"What happened?" Reg demanded and the three henchmen knelt down in front of her. She widened her eyes and shook her head. She didn't want them to get in trouble. If the man in the dark blue trench coat already killed one of his henchmen; Lucio, then he'd be flexible to pull the trigger at his leftover three. Quickly she motioned for them to go away with her head. But it was too late. The man in the dark blue trench coat had slammed the door to his bedroom and now Sam heard him approach them all from behind. A soft snicker came from him and he gripped Sam's chair. When his fingers brushed against her shoulder, she realized it wasn't his finger. It was the cold metal tip of his gun. Her insides froze and she met her frightened glance to Esto's. He watched with a flushed face.

"Flint Lockwood will come soon. He's all better, now that we know he's escaped." The man in the dark blue trench coat grinned and then a loud whistle exploded from down below.

"Why the hell isn't he using the blasted dog whistle? Why the normal one?" the man in the dark blue trench roared in anger and ran over to slide the helicopter doors open and dropped the rope ladder down. Sam tried to sit up a little straighter to see who will enter the helicopter. A short figure entered the helicopter. Quickly, the man in the dark blue trench coat slide the door closed. The figure stood up. The person wore a dark blue trench coat and had a dark blue hat too. Now that he stood next to the original man in the dark blue trench coat, Sam saw that they were now same in height. Both shook hands and then the newcomer walked over to one of the couches and flopped down.

When the newcomer met Sam's scared look he grinned a familiar grin and Sam wanted to scream. She thought she knew who the newcomer was. Then who the heck was the original man in the dark blue trench coat? She had no idea.

xxx

"Damn! I can't see a thing!" Flint turned the steering wheel sharply to the left and the flying car veered sharply to the left. Brent almost fell out of his seat. They now flew over New York City. The skies were clear (no food raining yet) but it was cloudy. Very cloudy. Flint had tried to go lower earlier, but he almost crashed into a building. After that happened, Brent had yelled at him for not watching where he was going. Flint argued that it wasn't his fault the building where built so high. Now they barely said a thing to one another. Carefully, Brent rolled his window down and stuck his head out. He sniffed the air.

"Mmmm. I can smell marinara sauce." Brent grinned and sniffed the air again.

"Stop thinking about your stomach!" Flint snapped and turned right. Brent rolled his eyes and sat back down, he closed the window. But he wondered why was the smell of marinara sauce so high up in the sky. Unless… Oh god. What if the spaghetti tornado was spinning its way toward them now? Where was Sam when they needed her? They needed her Doppler Weather Raider Effect 2000 Turbo to see if there was a food storm on its way.

"Flint!" Brent suddenly whimpered and pointed his finger to the window. Leaning over the steering wheel, Flint saw that the clouds were turning orange. He quickly rolled his window down and smelled the air. It was the same smell that was in that hospital room where Dr. Jetts died. There was a spaghetti tornado.

"FLINT, LOOK OUT!" Brent screamed and shrunk back in his seat. A meatball the size of the car was flying toward them at a frightening speed. Gasping, Flint turned and the whole car spun upside-down. Both Brent and Flint screamed as the car spun out of control. Frantically, Flint pushed some button on the dashboard and the car came back to upright position. He slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the car spurted upward. Beside him, Brent pressed the wipers. The way in front of them was a little bit clearer. Flint squinted and saw the spaghetti tornado spinning up ahead.

"We are screwed." Flint raised both eyebrows and his jaw fell open.

"You can say that again." Brent leaned forward and watched the tornado spin in the distance. It was ten times bigger than the one that had come during the grand opening of ChewandSwallow. Red sauce splattered everywhere, when the tornado passed. Stray spaghetti was left off on buildings. The Empire State Building was already wrapped in it.

"If the food mutations get worse, then the food will spread across the world…again. We need to stop the machine. Except there's a problem." Flint went pale and Brent blinked over at him. That last thing they needed was a problem. They already had a handful of problem to deal with.

"We don't have a Kill Code or my can of Spray-On-Shoes. How in the world do we stop the FLDSMDFR?" Flint trembled and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

"You'll think of something. You always do." Brent turned to Flint and nodded. Sighing, Flint hoped Brent was right. He had to be right. If he didn't think of something, this was the end for them all. But this was _his_ invention. He knew all the wires he wired in and all the gears inside. If only he could remove a gear or snap a wire. That would do the trick. But how do you get into a food machine spitting food ten times your size? _Think, Flint. Think._ Flint thought. He stopped concentrating and didn't see a meatball flying there way at break-neck speed. A scream escaped Brent, but Flint wasn't fast enough.

The meatball smacked into the cars side and that smashed Flint's door open. The car tilted and Flint felt himself sliding of his seat. His seatbelt snapped and now he was sliding off his seat and was falling out of the doorway. Before he could plunge to his death, Flint gripped the flying cars bumper.

"Brent!" Flint shrieked.

"Hold on!" Brent held his hand out. But Brent's hand was slippery with sweat and he couldn't exactly grip Flint's hand. Flint heard a thunderous roar and saw the spaghetti tornado spinning their way. If Brent didn't get Flint back into the car, both will be sucked into the monstrous tornado and be ripped into little pieces along with the flying car.


	18. Chapter 18: A plan

Sweat dripped down Flint's face and he helplessly held on the bumper. Brent tried to get his hand again, but the car tilted downward and Brent almost fell out. Fear was spreading all over Brent's face and Flint felt his own hands get slippery. The tornado was getting closer and making the air hotter. Gears turned in Flint's mind. He remembered the last spaghetti tornado. He knew exactly what he was to do.

"BRENT!" Flint shouted over the roar of the tornado.

"WHAT!" Brent asked and leaned in to hear Flint better.

"I'M GONNA LET GO! I'LL USE MY LAB COAT TO PARACHUTE DOWN! I WANT YOU TO DRIVE THE CAR DOWN AFTER ME! I THINK THERE'S A BUIDLING BELOW ME!" Flint yelled. Gasping, Brent nodded and positioned himself at the steering wheel. Shaking his head, Flint wondered what he was doing. Brent had failed the driving test back in high school. Ah, well. This was a matter of life and death. They had to do this. Taking a deep breath; still holding on to the bumper, Flint wiggled out of his lab coat and then closing his eyes he jumped. Quickly he grabbed the lab coat with both hands, even his broken arm shrieked when he bent it at an awkward angle.

The hot air from the tornado blew Flint down and he fluttered through the air holding on desperately to his prized possession. Last time he had done this, his lab coat had escaped his grip and he lost it. Thank god his dad had found it, but his dad wasn't here to do that now. If he lost it was his fault. Right now he had to find Sam and his invention.

Behind him, he heard the loud engine of the flying car. Slowly he turned his head to see Brent piloting the car after him. A concentrated look was in Brent's eyes and he drove after Flint. The building that Flint intended to land on was below. The roof was flat. And wide too. Zooming past Flint, Brent landed the flying car on the roof and climbed out of the car. Shortly after, Flint landed beside him. Grinning from ear to ear, Flint was relieved he still had his lab coat.

xxx

"I don't think Flint Lockwood will come." The original man in the dark blue trench coat sneered and he and the other man in the dark blue trench coat circled Sam. Meanwhile, the henchmen sat on one of the couches totally horrified. Esto kept trying to catch Sam's eye to reassure her that nothing will happen, but she was frozen with fear. The other man in the dark blue trench coat twirled a dagger in his fingers. Both circled Sam with amused grins and evil eyes on their hidden faces.

"I'm sure he's dead by now." One snapped.

"The tornado must have killed him." The other chuckled.

"Or maybe he chickened out and went home." One man laughed, but the original man in the trench coat glared at him. Slowly both men stopped circling Sam and now faced each other with angered eyes. The original man in the dark blue trench coat pulled out a gun and pointed it at the other man.

"He's dead! Don't you DARE say he's alive, or I'll pull this trigger in your face!" the original man in the dark blue trench coat snarled and pressed the gun to the other man's forehead. The other man laughed and then the man pulled the trigger.

But nothing happened. The gun had no more bullets left. Now the other man in the dark blue trench coat cracked up laughing, while the other man muttered under his breath and went to refill the gun. Then the man stopped laughing, when he caught Sam staring at him. She narrowed her eyes. Where had she heard that laugh? Somewhere.

The man in the dark blue trench coat returned this time with a refilled gun. He grinned and pointed the gun to the ceiling. Then he pulled the trigger and a bullet blasted through the roof, leaving a tiny hole there. The other man stood up straighter and watched the hole in the roof.

"Just testing it." The man in the dark blue trench coat replied and pointed it at the other man. He pulled the trigger and a bullet streaked through the air toward the other man in the dark blue trench coat. Gasping, the other man ducked before the bullet could hit him.

"What's the big idea?" the man roared and stood back up. He pulled out his own gun and pointed it at the man in the dark blue trench coat. The man in the dark blue trench coat cackled.

"Are you seriously gonna shoot me?" the man in the dark blue trench coat joked. In her mind, Sam wished the other guy would just shoot already. The original man in the dark blue trench had to die. He had done so much already. But then what happened when they took off the hat and moved the collar away and it was someone she knew? Then again, no one she knew was this bloody and cold-hearted. Unless you counted… Uh… never mind. That couldn't be them. It was possible, but she doubted it.

Raising an eyebrow, the other man in the dark blue trench coat raised the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet streamed toward the man in the dark blue trench coat. Before he could see it coming, the bullet ripped a hole through the coat and hit the man on the inside. Everyone in the room watched the man, expecting him to double over choking and dying on the spot. But he straightened up and planted his hands on his hips.

"Bulletproof vest. It came with this helicopter." He cackled and the other man dropped his gun with a pale look on his face. Sam widened her eyes in horror.

xxx

The rooftop of the building wasn't the best place to end up on, but it also wasn't the worst. Flint and Brent wondered how they were supposed to get down. The tornado was still heading their way, but it was becoming weaker. It was leaving spaghetti everywhere. So the tornado was becoming smaller and smaller as it reached them. Flint hoped the food didn't spread across the world yet. It was bad enough that they had to clean up ChewandSwallow from the rotting food. Now to do it a second time didn't sound like much fun. They had used the food for compost. Flint had to build a giant compost bin, where the food was crushed and then over a year, would turn into earthly soil. Except he wondered how cheeseburgers and hot dogs were to turn into soil, but that was another story.

"Flint, look." Brent pointed his finger at the sky to a rope ladder that was dangling over the building. The rope ladder swayed in the wind and looked as if it were to snap any moment.

"Where do you suppose it leads?" Flint came up to the ladder and touched it. Then he looked up. It led to something in the sky. Did this have anything to do with the FLDSMDFR? He hoped so. But this could also be something else. Then he glanced up at the clouds surrounding the ladder. They were all clumped together and didn't move. More clouds were flying over to that spot and clumped to the others. Instantly Flint understood. The FLDSMDFR was there. It was sucking the water out of the clouds to create the food. Whatever it was, it was gonna be big. Right now it wasn't raining anything, but something was coming along.

"We have to climb it. The FLDSMDFR is up there." Flint turned to Brent.

"How do you know?" Brent demanded and looked up at the clouds too.

"I just know." Flint began to climb carefully. His shoulder was starting to hurt again and he hoped the stitches didn't snap open. If they did… he didn't want to know. It was too painful to think about. He never wanted to enter a hospital ever again.

"If we die, I'll blame you."Brent said coldly and followed Flint up the ladder. Smirking, Flint knew Brent wasn't angry, he was just scared.

"Well, you can't blame me if I'm dead. I won't be there to hear your words." Flint joked and they climbed up the ladder. At one point, Flint actually looked down and saw that he couldn't see the ground anymore. They had probably entered the area around the clouds. Now they were closer to the FLDSMDFR, which meant they could get hit with food at any point.

The ladder seemed to stretch on forever, until Flint and Brent saw a giant black thing floating in mid-air up ahead. They couldn't see what it was because of the clouds, but looked dangerous. Now they climbed faster. The thing turned out to be a government helicopter. They reached the end of the rope ladder and Flint saw the door to the helicopter was open. He motioned for Brent to stop climbing, and then quietly peeked into the helicopter.

He saw two men pacing around someone sitting in a chair. Narrowing his eyes, he realized who it was. The person in the chair was Sam! He widened his eyes when he saw that the two men were the men in the dark blue trench coats. Both argued about something, while Sam sat there with horrified eyes. Then he had an idea.

"Brent, Sam is in there with the two men in the trench coats!" Flint climbed down the ladder a bit and looked down at Brent.

"_What?_" Brent exclaimed.

"Yeah. I want you to go back down to the flying car and fly it up to one of the helicopter windows. I'm gonna climb into the helicopter and hide under the table closest to the door. At one point I'll free Sam and then I'll throw something at one of the windows. When you see the window break, fly up to the window and Sam and I will get into the flying car. From there, we'll deal with the FLDSMDFR." Flint instructed.

Brent nodded, "Sure thing." And then began to climb back down the ladder to the flying car. Meanwhile, Flint made sure when the two men in the dark blue trench coats weren't looking and quickly scrambled into the helicopter and ducked under a table. The table had a chair at it, so the chair blocked Flint. He peeked around it.

"Lockwood won't come, I tell you!" the original man in the dark blue trench coat snapped to the other one.

"Fine! Then what do we do with Miss Sparks?" the other man in the dark blue trench coat demanded and motioned at Sam; who raised her head at her name. Flint stared at Sam; he was hoping she would catch his eye. He wanted her to know that she was safe.

"I dunno yet." The man in the dark blue trench coat looked over at Sam; who now shrunk in her seat.

"Kill her?" the other man suggested and Flint gasped.

"No. She might be useful." The man thought out loud.

Flint watched as Sam glanced around the room then she finally saw Flint and her eyes widened. She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head as if to tell him to go away. He shook his head and ripped his gaze away from her. _Here's my chance. _Flint thought and climbed out from under the table. The room grew quiet, when both men saw Flint. Sam looked like she was crying. Or about to. The men meanwhile blinked in confusion at Flint.

"He's alive." The other man in the dark blue trench coat grinned. The original man in the dark blue trench coat whacked him on the head for saying that.

"You're alive, Lockwood?" the man in the dark blue trench coat took a step forward. Puffing out his chest, Flint straightened up and the man gazed at his cast on his arm.

"Yes, I am. Problem with that?" Flint growled. The man raised an eyebrow Flint watched his eyes. They were brown. They were familiar.

Out of the corner of his eye, Flint saw Brent out the window in the flying car. The plan was going well. Except how was he to get Sam?


	19. Chapter 19: Escape the truth

Either it was the silence in the room, or that everyone was staring at Flint. He felt scared and nervous at the same time. No one in the room moved. The man in the dark blue trench coat slid his hand into his coat pocket and kept it there. Flint knew what was in there. The other man (who killed Dr. Jetts) stood there just staring. A glazed look passed through his eyes as he gulped. The atmosphere in the room was stiff and thick. No one dared move. Even Sam sat quietly in her chair. Her face had paled and she looked faint. The henchmen in the corner watched their boss's hand; still in the pocket. Then the man in the dark blue trench coat's eyes flickered to Flint and he pulled out a small dark blue ball. Confused, Flint had thought the gun was in the pocket.

"Well, Lockwood?" the man in the dark blue trench coat rasped and gripped the ball in his hand. The henchmen stared wide-eyed at the ball. They seemed to know what it was. One of them (Jag) covered his eyes and the other two shrank back in their seats.

Silence. Flint didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Lockwood? How should we deal with this matter?" the man in the dark blue trench coat asked in a louder voice.

"I don't know. Why can't we all go back to living our normal lives?" Flint then took a step forward and glared at the guy. Another silence rippled through the room. It was too much.

"We can do that. It's simple as that. Leave." The man threw the ball into the air and caught it. He glanced over at the other man in the dark blue trench coat who looked sick now. He took a nervous step back and gulped. The original man in the dark blue trench coat shot him a warning look.

"What about Sam?" Flint asked quietly and glanced over at Sam; who didn't return his look. Instead, she was nervously glancing at the dark blue ball in the man's hand. Her eyebrows furrowed. She seemed to know what it was too.

"What about her?" the man in the dark blue trench coat snapped and now gripped the ball even harder. The room was quiet and still again. Flint was staring at the ball. It looked like a bomb of some sort. Maybe it wasn't. But if it was, and he planned to drop it, he'd kill himself too. The helicopter would explode and will kill everyone. Flint thought of a bomb like the Giant Meatball he had survived. The meatball had exploded and sent shockwaves everywhere. He had survived that. One little bomb couldn't harm him. Well actually, yeah it can. There were no ratbirds to catch him as he fell. What about Sam? She was tied to a chair. Lucky for Brent, he was sitting in the flying car.

"Is that a bomb?" Flint then changed the subject and pointed at the ball in the man's hand.

"That's none of your business, Lockwood! Stop changing the subject!" the man shouted and then threw the ball onto the floor. Nothing happened. Flint watched the ball as it rolled around the room. How did it roll if the floor wasn't tilted? The ball made a loop around the room and then rolled to the original man in the dark blue trench coat. The other one took a step back, his face flashing a look of horror. Then the original man in the dark blue trench coat pulled a gun out of his pocket. The ball, meanwhile, cracked open in half and an orange smoke spilled out of the ball. The smoke smelled strongly of marinara sauce. It was the same smoke that was in the room was killed in. Flint watched as the smoke spread through the room and blinding everyone's view. There was a gunshot and Sam screamed. Flint couldn't see through the smoke, but he followed her strangled cries. She was ahead of him. Quickly, he knelt down and began to untie the ropes on her wrists, ankles, and waist and finally tore off the gag.

Gasping for air, he helped her up. She gripped his hand tight as Flint tried to find the window in all this smoke. The main question was: where were the two men? His broken arm knocked over someone and he quickly turned the other way. That answered that question. Then someone grabbed his collar and began to pull him back. Sam realized that someone was choking him and kicked the air behind Flint. A painful moan came from there and Flint was instantly released.

"There's the window." Flint rasped and led Sam toward the window. Then he remembered he had to break the window. An idea came into his mind. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and took at step back. Then he flung it forward. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the room. At the same time, the orange smoke seemed to leave the room and out the broken window. Flint now saw Brent flew the flying car to the window. Looking behind themselves, Flint and Sam saw the two men across the room.

"They're getting away!" the original man in the dark blue trench coat shrieked. He began to run toward them, but Flint jumped through the window, with Sam in tow. Brent moved over, so that they landed into the car through the doorless side. As they landed inside the car, Brent quickly positioned himself at the wheel as Flint and Sam tumbled into the backseat.

"We'll get you Lockwood!" both men stuck their heads out of the window and then disappeared inside. Alarmed, Brent flew the car to the side of the helicopter, where the FLDSMDFR dangled from a pole, on a thin thread. The pole dangled from the inside of the helicopter.

"Brent! Drive closer to the FLDSMDFR! I'm gonna grab the pole!" Flint stuck half his body out of the flying car. Sam held his broken arm, while he held out his good arm to grab the FLDSMDFR. Brent nodded and drove up. Stretching forward, Flint grabbed the pole and then Brent quickly flew back a little. The FLDSMDFR was still dangling from the pole. As they flew back a little more, Flint sat back down in his seat and held the pole, so the FLDSMDFR was sticking out the flying car window. It was a good thing the FLDSMDFR wasn't raining anything. The flying car would be smashed by now.

Suddenly there came a loud shout and Brent, Sam and Flint turned in their seats to look out through the doorless side. The bottom of the helicopter opened up and a small black plane flew out. It was no bigger than the flying car. It was more like a miniature jet. The windows of the jet were tinted, but they could make out two figures in the jet. It was the men in the dark blue trench coats.

"Brent! Fly to the ground!" Flint ordered with fear at the edge of his voice.

"I'm on it!" Brent gripped the steering wheel and flew the flying car, nose down to the ground. The clouds in the sky were following the FLDSMDFR, so it had become harder to see. Instantly, Brent pulled the wheel to himself and the car zoomed upward. They flew in a straight line for a while, until Sam cried out.

"Brent! They're shooting at us! Turn!" Sam cried. Flint turned in his seat and looked through the back window. The jet's window had opened and one of the men had poked his head out the window. He held a gun in his hand and shot over and over at the flying car. The bullets were much bigger this time. One whizzed past the car and missed by a mere centimeter. Brent turned the steering sharply to the left and the flying car swiveled sharply to the left. Sam screamed as a bullet now hit the flying car's side and left a sharp indent.

"Let's hope they don't get one in the exhaust pipe. Then we're done for it." Flint tightened his seatbelt and watched as a bullet missed the FLDSMDFR. Brent now pressed the wipers and the sky in front of them became clearer. He slammed his foot on the gas and the car shot forward at a greater speed.

"Are they keeping up with us?" Brent asked out loud. Flint and Sam both turned to look back and saw the jet was keeping up. It was almost about to crash with them. But the men weren't shooting anymore.

"Yeah. And I think they ran out of bullets." Sam sighed with relief.

"Don't jinx it." Brent muttered under his breath and turned sharply to the right.

"No. They got more." Flint still watched the jet. Once again, bullets swooshed passed the car. Now the bullet seemed even bigger. Groaning, Brent looked out of the rearview mirror and turned to the left. Sam almost fell out of her seat. Flint helped her back in her seat and she quickly sat back down and tightened her seatbelt. Flint put a protective arm around her shoulders.

BANG!

"What the hell was that?" Brent looked into the rearview mirror again.

"That was the exhaust pipe. They got a bullet in." Flint told him.

"And you said we're done if that happens?" Brent demanded and clutched the steering wheel harder. Flint nodded and Brent's face paled. He tried to steer the car to the right, but the engine sputtered. Angrily, Brent positioned the car into a nose dive again. Wind ripped passed the car as it blasted face-down to the ground below. The jet behind them came down to a nose dive too.

"I see the street below!" Sam craned her neck and Flint looked through the window too. He hoped Brent will pull up before they reached the ground. If he didn't pull up, the car will crash and kill them all. They'll be LUCKY if they survive. The street below looked empty. It was probably under construction or the road was just closed. But it wasn't the same road near the Empire State Building. What worried Flint was that there were people on the sidewalk. What if Brent didn't pull up and the car and they landed on the sidewalk?

The ground got closer and closer as the flying car and jet blasted to the ground.

"FLINT, DROP THE FLDSMDFR!" Brent yelled over the roaring of their broken engine. The ground was getting closer. Flint let go of the pole and watched the FLDSMDFR rip off the thread and tumble down to the ground below. It smashed as it reached the ground. People looked up and when they saw the flying car and jet, everyone was running for cover.

"I CAN'T PULL UP!" Brent wailed suddenly and the ground was getting closer. He pulled the steering wheel to himself, but the car did do anything. The ground was suddenly right there. The flying car made contact with the ground and so did the jet. A loud sickening crashing sound erupted all around. People gasped as they approached the flying car and jet.

"STAND BACK PEOPLE!" a police officer suddenly appeared. He held the people back. Then he told everyone to wait and see if anyone stirred from the pile. They waited long minutes. No one stirred.

"I think they are dead." The officer whispered and came over to the steaming flying car and jet. Both lay in a broken pile. The men as well as Flint, Brent and Sam were under the heaps of broken metal. The police moved the car and jet parts aside and pulled the people out from under the hot metal. Then he stepped back and watched. The crowd of people got bigger and more people watched the pile quietly. Suddenly, there came a ragged cough. It was Flint. He half-opened his eyes and sat up in pain. His shoulder was bleeding again, as the stitches had come undone. His cast had broken away and his arm was bent in an awkward angle. He cried out in pain and people watched him.

The police officer watched him with wide eyes. Not everyday people survived crashes from the sky. Meanwhile, Flint opened his eyes fully and glanced around. His eyes fell on Brent and Sam who lay motionless on the ground. The two men lay a few feet away. Their trench hats had fallen over their faces. Staggering, Flint got to his feet and fell down to his knees near Sam and Brent.

He watched them both and tears fell out of his eyes and splashed on Sam's shirt. Then he turned around and looked down at the two men lying there.

"Aren't those the men who committed murder." The officer asked quietly. Flint felt himself nodding. Slowly he reached out and took off the trench hats, off the hidden faces. The faces that looked back at him had their eyes closed, but now Flint knew who the two men were. He moved away the high collars and gasped. The original man in the dark blue trench coat; the one who had stolen the FLDSMDFR, shot Flint in the shoulder had turned out to be the Mayor of ChewandSwallow. The other one who murdered turned out to be Patrick Patrickson from the Weather News Network. The one Sam hated so much.

Flint watched them both. When they awoke, both would be off to jail.


	20. Chapter 20: Anger

The crowd watched Flint Lockwood with wide eyes as he held his head in pain. Then he muttered something about garbage bags. He asked the police officer for two garbage bags. The officer raised a confused eyebrow at him and went to rummage in his police cruiser for some bags. Flint meanwhile swayed a little and looked more and more faint. The crowd watched with worried eyes. The officer came up to Flint with two black garbage bags. Nodding and muttering something under his breath, Flint took the bags.

He crawled over to the pile of metal and parts, and rummaged through them. Under all the metal from the flying car and jet, was the ruined FLDSMDFR. With trembling hands, Flint took the broken parts from the FLDSMDFR and threw them into one of the garbage bags. When he was done, he grabbed the second bag and picked up some pieces from the smashed flying car. The crowd watched him. When he put a few pieces into the bag, he clutched his head again and then fell back on the floor with a thud.

"He fainted." The officer whispered. The crowd gasped and murmurs arose from the crowd. Instantly, the officer pulled out a small radio and began to snap orders into it.

"_WE NEED AN AMBUALNCE AT ZONE 3! THERE WAS A CRASH HERE!_" he yelled into the radio and the crowd quieted down again. Before anyone knew it, an ambulance was streaking down the street, with its sirens blaring out. The crowd parted as the ambulance parked itself where they previously stood and paramedics hopped out of the double doors carrying a stretcher.

"We'll need three stretchers." The officer told them. Nodding, the paramedics ran back into the ambulance and came back with two more stretchers. They loaded Flint, Sam and Brent onto the stretchers and brought them through the ambulances back doors. Then the officer quickly told the paramedics to take Flint's garbage bags. Once they did so, the doors slammed shut and the ambulance drove away; the siren howling away.

As the ambulance drove away, the officer approached the men in the dark blue trench coats and planted his arms on his hips as he watched the two men stir. The mayor sat up and blinked around. He realized that his hat wasn't on his head and his face turned pale as he watched the officer and the large crowd surrounding him. Next to him, Patrick rubbed his head and sat up too. He, too, realized his hat wasn't on his head and staggered to his feet. But he fell back to the ground, shortly. A look of confusion passed through his face when he saw the cop standing over them. The mayor, meanwhile, was finding words to say.

"Isn't that Patrick Patrickson from the WNN?" someone gasped from the crowd.

"Yeah! And the other one is the Mayor of ChewandSwallow! He lost weight!" someone else cried out from the crowd. Shouts and murmurs rang out through the crowd. The officer pulled out two pairs of handcuffs from his pocket and knelt down to fasten the wrists of the criminals.

"Get up!" he snapped at them and the two men got up, their trench coats billowing around them. The mayor looked down to the ground and anger rose inside him. He wasn't supposed to be caught. Never. It was all Patrick's fault. Patrick had suggested flying the jet after Flint. And Flint was still alive, which angered the mayor even. When he followed the officer to the police cruiser, the crowd began to thin out. Patrick trialed after him with his head hung. He kept muttering that now he couldn't get back to his job now. The mayor turned to give him a scathing look, and Patrick stopped muttering. The officer opened the back door of the cruiser and pushed the mayor and Patrick into the backseat. Then he slammed the door and climbed in behind the drivers' wheel. The cruiser rumbled down the road and the mayor felt rage boiling inside him. _No prison could hold me in._ he thought bitterly.

"I'm escaping out of the prison tonight." The mayor hissed under his breath and looked over at Patrick.

"You'll get caught." Patrick snapped and glared at him.

"Did I get caught when I killed Lucio?" the mayor asked in a whisper so the officer wouldn't hear them.

"No." Patrick shook his head.

"Did I get caught when I shot Flint in the shoulder?"

"No."

"Did _you_ get caught when you drugged Flint with the sleeping medicine? Or when you killed ?" the mayor demanded in a louder voice.

"N-no." Patrick stammered and shrunk back in his seat. He couldn't bear think about the time he drugged Flint. He remembered walking in and giving Flint a cup of the nasty white liquid. Then he had fled to the 4th floor and waited till they brought Flint up there. The mayor meanwhile was up in the helicopter tricking Miss. Sparks that there was only ONE man in the dark blue trench coat. The mayor pretended he had drugged Flint, when it was REALLY Patrick. All the mayor had done was stole the FLDSMDFR, shot Flint and killed Lucio. In his mind, Patrick knew he would get caught.

"Well then, there's no problem with that." The mayor's eyes gleamed and he leaned back in his seat. They would escape tonight and get Flint and his friends for once and for all.

xxx

Night was falling and doctors ran in and out of room #387. Finally a nurse poked her head into the room and then nodded to herself and left. She closed the door with _click_ and went away. The curtains were drawn aside and the light of the full moon lighted its way into the hospital room. Three bodies lay on three beds in the room. All had pale faces, but a strong pulse. All were alive, but were knocked out. They had not awakened once since the crash. Not until now.

Sam Sparks was first to sit up in bed and look around in alarm. She couldn't understand where she was. Or what had happened. The last thing she remembered was her arms wrapped around Flint, and his around hers. They had been screaming. They had crashed. Her eyes adjusted to the lighting in the room and she saw that on either side of her, were two beds containing Brent and Flint. Sighing with relief, she fell back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling. What had happened to the men in the dark blue trench coats? The FLDSMDFR?

"Sam?" came Flint's voice as he sat up in bed. Quickly she sat up too. Shortly, Brent sat up too. All three stared at each other. Then Brent spoke up with tears.

"I couldn't pull up." He replied with teary eyes. Flint and Sam glanced at him. Brent had his head bandaged. His blond hair stuck out from the bandages.

"It's not your fault. The good thing is that none of us are dead." Flint told him and Sam nodded in agreement. All sat in a silence until the only sound in the room was Brent sniffing. Until Sam turned to Flint with a worried expression on her face.

"Flint, did you find out who the men were?" she asked in a hushed voice. Brent stopped sniffling and looked up at Flint too. Gulping, Flint wondered how both would react. Sam would be shocked about Patrick and Brent would be shocked about the mayor. Either way, they would be alarmed. He nodded and Sam gasped. On the other bed, Brent froze and narrowed his eyes.

"The original one was the mayor. The second one was Patrick Patrickson from WNN." Flint told them quietly. From their beds, Brent and Sam gasped and watched Flint with open jaws. Both of their expressions were speechless. Sam finally looked down on her lap and then her eyes widened. Brent was having a heart-attack. He was staring at Flint with the weirdest look ever. It was the same look he gave Flint, when they hated each other back in school. It was a look of complete hatred.

"It was your entire fault, wasn't it?" Brent snapped at Flint and swung his legs over his bed. He sat on the edge of his bed, still glaring at Flint.

"M-my fault?" Flint stammered in confusion. Sam looked up and stared at Brent with a puzzled look.

"You rebuilt the damn machine and now it's your fault we were chased by him! He knew that you'd do it! He watched you after the machine exploded! Why the hell did you rebuild it Flint? Huh? YOU KNEW! HE WATCHED YOU! IF YOU HADN'T BUILT THE STUPID MACHINE IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE WOULD STILL BE EATING SARDINES AND EVERYTHING WOULD BE LIKE IT ALWAYS HAD!" Brent was now on his feet and glared at Flint with pure hatred. Like it always had. Flint knew that they wouldn't stay friends for long. Brent had always hated Flint deep down. Horrified, Sam watched Brent. She looked close to tears. Then she looked at Flint and burst into tears. He watched the both of them. His heart twisted up and he wished he was dead for real. But his anger was boiling inside him too. He just didn't have words for the anger inside him.

"Do you know what's on his record?" Brent replied quietly, but anger ripped through his voice. Flint just shook his head.

"They made him Mayor of Swallow Falls because no other company would take him in for a job! They rejected him everywhere! His criminal record was insane! And do you know why I don't have parents?" Brent shouted at Flint. Shaking, Flint didn't know how to react. Now that he thought about it, WHERE were Brent's parents? Every concert at school, even at Graduation, Brent's parents hadn't showed up. Instead the Mayor had come to every event.

"HE KILLED MY PARENTS! IN FRONT OF ME! I WAS FORCED TO LIVE WITH HIM AND MAKE HIM A MILLIONAIRE WITH HIS SARDAINE COMPANY! You think I want to walk around with people calling me 'Baby Brent'? NO! I ONLY LIKED IT BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKED _ME!_ You came in and ruined EVERYTHING! I only watched and waited for you to end up dead one day! YOUR FATHER EVEN WARNED YOU! He told you to turn off the machine, not only because he knew the invention would end up in a disaster, but ALSO BECAUSE HE KNEW THE MAYOR WAS A NUT! The mayor had made everyone forget about my dead parents, but people still knew he wasn't right in the mind!" Brent was now in tears.

He finished yelling and sat back down on the edge of his bed. A silence echoed through the room. There was a long silence. Brent didn't dare look at Flint. Instead, he lay back down on his bed and turned to the wall. Sam stopped crying and stared at Brent with an unreadable expression. Then she lay back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Flint lay down too. His eyes watered with strong tears. He turned away to the door and closed his eyes. Never had he knew those things about the mayor. Never. He curled up into a tight ball and wished he had his mother by his side. But she was dead.

_Why had I even rebuilt the FLDSMDFR?_ Flint asked himself. Soon he fell asleep with a sick feeling in his stomach.

The next morning there was no sunlight. It was cloudy outside. When Flint woke up, he saw that the nurse had come by. There were trays with breakfast at the foot of each bed. A newspaper lay on Flint's bed. He sat up and saw that Brent and Sam were still asleep. Slowly he reached out and grabbed the newspaper. It was _The New York Times_. The front page stuck out at Flint like a blow in the head. Here's what it said on the front page:

**Mass Breakout from New York State Prison**

_Late last night there had been several gunshots heard from the 2__nd__ floor. Very early this morning, security guards had found two jail cells empty. The bars in the cell had been cut. The air smelled strangely of marinara sauce. The police are on the lookout. They found no trace of the missing men anywhere. They seemed to have vanished into thin air. The two escaping men were the Mayor of ChewandSwallow and Patrick Patrickson from the Weather News Network. If anyone sees the two criminals, please contact the New York City Police. They have also murdered several lives, so keep your children indoors for the time being._

Flint groaned and looked over at the sleeping bodies of Sam and Brent. No more following the men in the dark blue trench coats. They had to go home and forget this ever happened. He also had to make sure, Brent wasn't angry with him anymore.


	21. Chapter 21: Final Actions

There was a still sick and maybe it was nervous; feeling in Flint's gut. His shoulder had been stitched back up and his cast had been remolded. The doctors had said that it was getting better and he could have it removed soon. As Sam slept, Flint noticed that she wasn't wearing her own clothes. He just noticed that. She wore a dark blue sweater. Where she had gotten it, Flint had no idea. Brent was asleep too and Flint couldn't understand what made him say those things yesterday. Flint couldn't understand whose side Brent was on. First he said it was Flint's entire fault, and then went on rambling how the mayor was horrible.

Before Flint could think about anything else, Brent stirred in his bed and awoke. Gulping, Flint began to eat the breakfast from his tray. A worried look passed through his eyes when he saw what his breakfast was. Or if you could even call it breakfast. It was a can of sardines. Flint looked down at the can and wondered why hospitals gave such breakfast. Brent stared at his breakfast too and a sad look passed through his blue eyes. Then he looked up and met Flint's look. Both exchanged nervous looks and then Brent pried his sardine can open.

The horrible stench filled the room and Flint covered his nose and waved his hand. Brent closed the can. Then Flint opened up his can, but instead of the smell of sardines, he found a note. Slowly, he unfolded the note. Brent glanced over.

"I've got a note." Flint told Brent. Silence. Brent was still remembering last night and turned away. The note was written in something red. Horrified, Flint brought the note to his nose and sniffed. It was blood. Then he read the note. It said: _Hello Lockwood. We were here last night. And one day we will return and kill you. Sincerely, the men in the dark blue trench coats. _

Laughing, Flint dropped the note and Brent looked over. He raised an eyebrow. But Flint just grinned and folded the note. They had been here last night. Why hadn't they killed him when he slept? Shaking his head, Flint watched Brent try to eat one of the sardines from the can. Instantly, Brent spat the sardine out and his face turned into a look of complete disgust. Flint watched him. Then Brent let out a giant sigh.

"Listen. I'm sorry. If it weren't for your machine we'd still be eating sardines. I'm sorry about what I had said last night. I just got carried away." Brent muttered and Flint nodded. They both looked down at Sam who fluttered her eyes open.

"What did I miss?" she asked in a whisper and glanced from Flint to Brent. Both laughed and she sat up.

"Nothing much. Just some sardines." Brent chuckled.

"Oh." Sam wrinkled her nose when she looked over at the can of sardines on Brent's tray.

"Let's go home." Flint finally whispered after an awkward silence.

"You bet!" Brent flung his covers away and hopped to his feet. Flint got out of bed too, and grabbed his two garbage bags. All but Sam sat there nervously looking down at the sweater she wore. She thought about her clothes that were still in the helicopter. Along with her glasses and Jell-O scrunchie. Blinking, she wondered if she should tell Flint. But that would just break his heart. Forcing on a weak smile, she followed Flint and Brent out the door to their room.

The hallway was empty. They tip-toed to the elevator. Near the elevator slept a man with a black trench hat over his eyes. He was covering the elevator door. He wore a black peacoat and shiny black loafers and long black pants. The man snored and then stopped. Slowly without lifting his hat he began to speak.

"Who's there?" he rasped in a scratchy voice.

"People who want to get into the elevator." Flint snapped.

"Right. Sorry." The man got up and pulled the hat over his eyes. The elevator pinged and they all stepped in. Along with the man. The elevator was tight, so Flint was squashed next to the man. When he stood next to him, Flint felt something sharp and cold sticking into his side. He looked down and saw something large and angle-like pressing against the pocket of the black peacoat. It was a gun. The shape was familiar. Who carried a gun around? The elevator soon came to the first floor and they all came out. The man in the black peacoat followed them out. Brent checked them all out.

Near the countertop, Flint saw a wanted sign with mugshots of Patrick and the Mayor. The man in the black peacoat came up to the sign and tore off the sign and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he ran out the hospital double doors. The woman behind the counter watched him run out behind her wide-rimmed glasses. Shaking her head, she signed Sam, Flint and Brent out of the hospital and they left the hospital. Now it was off to ChewandSwallow.

xxx

The docks of ChewandSwallow greeted them, as the boat parked at one of the docks. Flint was first off the boat. He raced off the boat and waved his good arm wildly in the air. With the other one, he clutched his bags.

"I'M HOME!" He hollered out and Brent and Sam followed him, running onto Main Street. People appeared from stores and houses to see who had come back. Instantly, people cheered. They had all heard about how the men in the dark blue trench coats attacked Flint, Sam and Brent. All knew about the Mayor. They all knew everything. Tim Lockwood immerged from the crowd and came over to Sam, Brent and Flint; who all stood next to each other. The crowd surrounded them. Tim sighed and then tried to find words to say.

"I thought you were dead, son. But I'm happy you're home." Tim replied quietly and Flint watched his father. Smiling, Flint dropped the bags and hugged Tim tightly. He never felt safer. Now he was home. No Mayor was going to get him.

"I'm glad to be home too, dad." Flint smiled and left go of Tim. Then the crowd parted to reveal Earl, along with his wife and Cal. And…

"STEVE!" Flint gasped and the monkey ran up to Flint. Steve jumped into Flint's arms and hugged him tight.

"Gummy Bears?" Steve asked Flint.

"Later Steve. I promise." Flint grinned down at his monkey. Everyone was here. Now Flint felt happy. The happiness was surging through him like lightning. Like thunder it rumbled inside him. He watched Earl clear his throat and explain to everyone that now they didn't have a Mayor. He explained that earlier he had gone the Mayor's office, above City Hall and searched through the papers. There it said who the next mayor would be. It was to be Earl. The most loyal and supporting person in ChewandSwallow.

"So, now I want no funny business, Flint Lockwood!" Earl teased Flint and slapped him on the back as applause came from the crowd. Flint grinned. Earl would make a MUCH better Mayor. The town was in good hands now.

xxx

After the whole ceremony of Earl becoming Mayor, the town went on with their lives. Brent was instantly gone with Earl to clean out the Mayor's old things and bring in Earl's things. While he did that, Flint had run into his lab to grab a shovel and then hoisting the bags over his good shoulder, he and Sam headed down to the Jell-O Dome. All the way, Sam asked why Flint needed the shovel. Instead of answering, he told her what was in the bags.

They walked down through the yellow fields, and somewhere in the grass, the Remote Control TV ran wild. All was back to normal. No more Spaghetti Tornados to ruin the day or people busting into Flint's lab. No more food raining from the sky and no more gunshots through the midst of things. The hill that led down to the Jell-O Dome was ahead. Flint stopped on the hill. He began to dig. Sam watched him with her arms crossed across her chest.

"What's the hole for?" She asked and smiled down at Flint.

"You mean 'holes'. I'm digging two." Flint looked up at her and wiped his forehead. Then he continued to dig. He dug until the hole was up to his knees if he stood in it. After, he went on to digging the second hole. Tired of watching him, Sam sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees. She rested her chin on the top of her knees. It was interesting watching Flint work. He did the job fast, but did the job good. He didn't stop to hesitate or ponder on a thought. There was no daydreaming tied to his work.

"Done!" Flint leaned on his shovel. Letting out a sigh of relief, he took the first garbage bag and emptied the contents into the first hole. The pieces were the FLDSMDFR; smashed up and scratched. Then he snatched up the second bag and emptied the contents into the second hole. These were the pieces from the flying car.

"I want to bury these t-two inventions. I-I never want to return to them again." Flint stuttered. Slowly he hung his head. All the might and thought he had put into the inventions. Now they were going to be gone.

"The Jell-O Dome belongs to the FLDSMDFR, so I want to bury the FLDSMDFR here. Then the flying car #3 connects to the FLDSMDFR in some ways." Flint whispered and Sam stood up. She put a comforting arm around Flint's waist. They stood for a while, just listening to the wind and birds. Finally, Flint took the shovel in his hands again and threw the soil over the two holes. Then he sat down. Sam sat down beside him. They faced the Jell-O Dome and Flint watched the sun set rays down on the Dome. It sent a warm orange glow through the Jell-O and it looked as if the whole thing was lit up.

"I know who the man in the black peacoat was." Flint whispered suddenly to Sam.

"WHAT?" she sprang back and stared at him.

"The man blocking the elevator. It was the Mayor." Flint smiled.

"How do you know?" Sam widened her eyes.

"I just know." Flint smiled and Sam knew she shouldn't say anymore. The scene was beautiful and she wished… Slowly, she turned and kissed Flint on the lips. He blushed and kissed her back. She leaned in when a loud shout interrupted them.

"Oi! Lovebirds! Look what I found!" someone cried out. Both sprang apart and saw Brent running to them. He wore a dark blue trench coat and grinned as he ran to them. Sam gasped. Flint just stared. Brent ran over and sat down beside them. He took off the trench coat and laid it on the ground.

"The Mayor's closet was FULL with these! Everything in his closet was dark blue! Suits, Ties, coats, pants! And we found boxes and boxes full of bullets too!" Brent grinned and then took the coat and ripped it in half. Then he got up and took the pieces too.

"Just wanted to show you that! You can go on with whatever you were doing!" Brent shouted over his shoulder as he ran off.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked Flint.

"I dunno." He grinned and they turned to the Jell-O Dome. Then he turned to her and kissed her for the final affect. Where ever the Mayor was in the world, Flint wished he wasn't here. But he thought wrong.

**The End**


End file.
